Sophomore guard Bruce Thornton (2) controls possession against No. 7 Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament. No. 10 Ohio State defeated the Hawkeyes 90-78 in the Big Ten Tournament 90-78 Thursday. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
Survive and advance.
That’s exactly what the Buckeyes did Thursday night, keeping their NCAA tournament hopes alive.
The No. 10-seeded Ohio State men’s basketball team (20-12, 9-11 Big Ten) exploded on the offensive end and took down the No. 7-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes (18-14, 10-10 Big Ten) 90-78 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
The Buckeyes were led by fifth-year forward Jamison Battle, who tallied 23 points in a game that Ohio State never trailed.
“I felt like our guys stayed together and stayed aggressive for 40 minutes,” interim head coach Jake Diebler said.
It was raining Buckeye threes early and often.
Sophomore guard Bruce Thornton got Ohio State on the board in the 3-point department, as he made one from the right wing over a Hawkeye defender at 17:18 in the first half.
Just 1:15 later, Thornton drilled yet another shot from beyond the arc, pushing Ohio State’s run to 8-0. Thornton said he was excited to hit his first couple of 3-pointers.
“When a guy hits shots like that, it’s really easy on offense,” Thornton said. “To get stops, that’s why we came out with a win today.”
Thornton, with 14:09 remaining in the first half, found freshman guard Scotty Middleton wide open in the right corner and he splashed one home, giving the Buckeyes a 15-7 lead.
On the very next possession, Iowa junior forward Payton Sandfort connected on a 3-pointer of his own right over Middleton, halting Ohio State’s momentum.
Iowa built on Sandfort’s three and Hawkeye redshirt-senior forward Patrick McCaffery got a fast-break layup to go, giving them an 8-0 run of their own and tying the game at 15.
Middleton came into the game having 27 straight single digit games.
This game was different.
He made all three of his shots from beyond the arc in the first half, the last of which came with 33 seconds left in the first half and pushed Ohio State’s lead to 43-38 heading into the half.
Middleton led the Buckeyes with 11 points at the half as Ohio State shot 72% from long range.
Despite not scoring in the first half, Battle took over in the final 20 minutes.
Battle got the second half started with a 3-pointer, which marked his first points of the game.
Following an offensive rebound courtesy of sophomore guard Evan Mahaffey, Thornton made the Hawkeyes pay and drilled a three of his own with 17:44 remaining in the game.
Ohio State would miss its next four 3-pointers but that didn’t stop the Buckeye offense. Instead, it penetrated the key and got to the free-throw line 22 times to keep the gas on the Hawkeyes.
In the first, Iowa shot 53% from the field and 55% from beyond the arc. In the second half its shot grew cold and the Hawkeyes shot a troubling 33% from the field and 25% from 3-point range.
With 6:19 to play, Thornton pulled up from 15 feet and connected on a mid-range jumper, extending Ohio State’s lead, 77-65.
Sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. inbounded the ball following an Iowa made free throw, threw the ball 72 feet and led Battle in stride, who slammed it home with his left hand, increasing the Ohio State lead 87-75 with 1:15 to go.
The Buckeyes cruised in the final 75 seconds, scored 3 more points and closed the game out 90-78. Diebler said he is happy with the win but also realizes that there is more work to be done.
“We still have to get better,” Diebler said. “We still have to try to have longer stretches of aggressiveness on both sides of the ball and just maybe a higher level communication. I thought our communication wasn’t as good as it needed to be in the first half, but our guys, they responded.”
Ohio State will have to be quick in its improvements, though.
The Buckeyes will take on the No. 2-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Big Ten Network will broadcast.
