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No. 18 Ohio State bids to stay perfect at home vs. Iowa

Ohio State Buckeyes guard Jamari Wheeler (55) high fives students as he leaves the court following the NCAA men's basketball game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Value City Arena in Columbus on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. Ohio State won 70-45.

Minnesota Golden Gophers At Ohio State Buckeyes Men S Basketball
Ohio State Buckeyes guard Jamari Wheeler (55) high fives students as he leaves the court following the NCAA men's basketball game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Value City Arena in Columbus on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. Ohio State won 70-45. Minnesota Golden Gophers At Ohio State Buckeyes Men S Basketball

If No. 18 Ohio State can play a full 40 minutes the way it performed in the second half of its most recent game, the Buckeyes will have an excellent chance to extend their unbeaten home record Saturday when they host Iowa.

Ohio State (16-6, 9-4 Big Ten) trailed visiting Minnesota by two points at the half on Tuesday but blitzed the Golden Gophers to the count of 47-20 in the final 20 minutes for the 70-45 victory.

“People think in this league you should just blow people out in the first half, be up 20,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said afterward. “Come on now. Have you ever played? That doesn’t happen in league play. I just knew it was going to be a little bit of a slow drip and maybe if we could win some possessions, we could stretch it.

“I didn’t really look at it as the tale of two halves outside of our shot making. … Our guys in the second half were able to make some shots. That opened the defense up a little bit. We played with a purpose in the second and were a little cleaner.”

E.J. Liddell scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds, and Jamari Wheeler scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Wheeler hit three 3-pointers in the first nine minutes after the break and Malaki Branham had two as the Buckeyes pulled away quickly.

“The first half was one of the worst first halves we played all season,” Wheeler said. “We needed some spark to get us going. That’s the spark we needed.”

The Buckeyes ran their home mark to 11-0, 5-0 in the Big Ten. Last season, it might be noted, Ohio State ended the regular season with three consecutive home losses – although all were against Top 10 teams. That stretch included a 73-57 loss to then-No. 9 Iowa.

On Thursday, the Hawkeyes (17-8, 7-7) lost at home to Michigan, 84-79.

“I’m proud of our guys’ effort,” Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said. “We missed some easy ones, but we kept coming against a good team. We will practice at noon (Friday) get on a plane and go play Ohio State. Saturday is another opportunity for us.”

Keegan Murray, who scored 23 points against Michigan, leads the Hawkeyes and is fourth nationally with 23.3 points per game.

The Hawkeyes are first in the Big Ten and fourth nationally in scoring (83.8). Iowa has ranked first in conference scoring the past three seasons.

Yet, they missed three dunks against Michigan.

“At the end of the day, we missed a lot of bunnies around the rim that we normally make,” Murray said. “If you think about it, if we don’t miss those bunnies, we have a chance to win the game.”

Fatigue may be a factor for the Hawkeyes, as it will be soon for the Buckeyes. Iowa was scheduled to play in Columbus on Feb. 3, but inclement weather prevented a trip to Ohio.

To reschedule the game for Saturday, the Buckeyes’ home game against Indiana scheduled for Saturday was moved to Monday.

–Field Level Media

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