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Iowa Basketball: Hawkeyes vs. Ohio State Buckeyes – Rapid Reaction

By Dylan Burn

Feb 11, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Mike Gesell (10) passes the ball to a teammate during the second period of the game at Assembly Hall. Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 85 to 78. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Mike Gesell (10) passes the ball to a teammate during the second period of the game at Assembly Hall. Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 85 to 78. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Iowa Basketball team looked to get back on track against Ohio State on Sunday afternoon in a game they needed to stay in contention for the regular season Big Ten title.

I didn’t have high expectations coming into Sunday’s game, for obvious reasons.  The Iowa Hawkeyes are struggling as of late and are giving us no reason to believe that they’ll be coasting to victories like they did early in the Big Ten season.  Fans have consistently complained about the lack of bench scoring, the free throws, and about the lack of a third option behind Jarrod Uthoff and Peter Jok.

Iowa got that third option today in the form of Mike Gesell who scored 16 points and really got Iowa going after a slow start from Jok.  In fact, Gesell was a constant all day long in a game that Jok found himself in foul trouble throughout.  Pete finished with 12 points.

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The game was extremely sloppy to start and really didn’t get much better.  The Hawkeyes and Buckeyes were turning the ball over, missing shots, and the game just didn’t seem to have any flow for either team.  You can thank the officials for the lack of flow in the second half.  The officiating was less that impressive in the second half for both teams, so I don’t think either fan base has an argument there.

Marc Loving, who averages right around 12 points a game for OSU, poured in his second highest point total of the season with 25 points.  His season high is 27 points against Illinois.  The Buckeyes also got consistent play from Keita Bates-Diop, he tallied 19 points in the game.

Iowa turned the ball over 15 times in the game, which is uncharacteristic of this bunch, but that’s how they’ve been executing lately, poorly.

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The Hawkeyes shot just 40% from the field and 25% (3-12) from behind the arc, which won’t cut it.  Uthoff made one of his four attempts, Jok made one of five, and Dom Uhl poured in the other three point basket.  Iowa did lead by four with about three minutes left, but Kam Williams hit a three to pull the Buckeyes within one.  Williams then hit a two point basket (should’ve been a three) to give the Buckeyes a one point lead.

Iowa’s late game execution was horrendous.  They made two baskets in the last four minutes of the game, and Ohio State went on a 10-0 run after Iowa led 62-56 at the 4:07 mark.  The Hawkeyes got a break late when Loving missed an easy layup, but the ball went off of Adam Woodbury‘s foot and rolled out of bounds.  With a minute left, Williams made his second three of the game to give OSU a four point lead and essentially seal the game.

We can sit here and talk about the officiating all we want, but the reality is; Iowa was terrible an the officials were terrible for both teams.  The Hawkeyes have now lost four of five games and are quickly playing themselves to about an 8 or 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament depending and how they finish up in their last two regular season games and in the Big Ten Tournament.

The Hawkeyes return home for senior night against Indiana on Tuesday night.  The Hawkeyes and Hoosiers tip off at 8 p.m. CT on Tuesday.

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