Recap: Ohio State Blown Out 74-57 By Iowa On The Road

Ohio State (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) was in dire need of a road win on Wednesday, but was blown out by Iowa (20-9, 10-7), 74-57, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Buckeyes got out to a quick start in the first half, scoring 14 points in just over five minutes of game time, but scored just nine more points the rest of the first half and trailed by double digits the rest of the game.

It was a quick start for sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. in his first game back from his finger injury when he made his first shot from beyond the arc for a 3-0 lead over two minutes into the game. He followed that up with another three-pointer on the Buckeyes’ next possession.

Mobley’s three-pointers were the start of a 14-2 run for Ohio State, with freshman forward Amare Bynum also knocking down two deep balls of his own during that stretch that ended at 14:51.

The Hawkeyes would storm back right away, tying the game up at 15 with 10:30 left in the first half on a jumper from Bennett Stirtz. But the run didn’t stop there for Iowa.

After the Hawk up 21-15 on a three from Cooper Koch, both teams didn’t score for nearly three minutes, with two free throws from Trevin Jirak ending the drought. Sophomore guard Taison Chatman scored at 5:29 for Ohio State on a three-pointer, the Buckeyes’ first points since 13:46, but Iowa continued to surge, taking a 33-18 lead with 2:31 left in the frame. That was the end of a lengthy 31-4 run for the Hawkeyes.

Ohio State went into the second half down 37-23 despite its fast start. The Buckeyes shot 7 of 22 from the field in the period (31.8 percent) while Iowa made 13 of 24 shots (54.2 percent).

Needing a strong second-half performance to come back, Ohio State was able to bring the score within 10 points less than two minutes into the period with the help of four points from junior forward Devin Royal and a three-pointer from sophomore center Ivan Njegovan.

But after Iowa called a timeout, the Hawkeyes took control of the game again and had a quick 5-0 spurt to get back out to a 15-point lead, 45-30. It didn’t take long for them to extend the lead to 19 points at 14:37, their biggest advantage of the game at that point.

Ohio State was able to bring it back within 14 points with another three-pointer from Mobley, but the Buckeyes couldn’t bring it any closer than that, with a media timeout interrupting any momentum they might have been building.

With 7:25 left, Iowa stretched its lead as far as 23 points, 66-43, with Alvara Folgueias scoring six points on an 8-0 run.

That deficit was far too large for Ohio State to overcome, with the game ending in a 17-point defeat.

Royal led Ohio State with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting while Mobley had 15 points in his return to the floor. Senior guard Bruce Thornton scored 10 points, all of them coming in the second half.

Stirtz scored 22 points for the Hawkeyes and Folgueias was close behind with 20 before he fouled out of the game.