Six key moments from Ohio State’s 74-57 loss at Iowa

The Ohio State Buckeyes (17-11, 9-8) started the first five minutes strong at Iowa (20-8, 10-7), but that was about it as Iowa finished the first half on a 35-9 run and ran away with a 74-57 win on Wednesday night at Carver Arena.

The Buckeyes musical chairs of starters continued in this one, as they got John Mobley Jr. and Devin Royal back from injury and illness, but starting center Christoph Tilly was out due to a calf injury that he reaggravated at Michigan State. Tilly has played and started in 26 games this season and is averaging 11.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

With two of its starters back on the floor and healthy, Ohio State got off to a strong start, jumping out an immediate 14-2 lead and forcing an Iowa timeout. In this early run, they had 14 points on five made field goals and five assists. Mobley and A’mare Bynum both knocked down two three-pointers.

Iowa answered immediately with a 19-1 run on its own and and took an 21-15 lead behind eight points from star point guard Bennett Stirtz, forcing a Jake Diebler timeout. The Hawkeyes started 0-for-5 from the field and then made seven of their next eight field goals.

After another Iowa run, the Hawkeyes led 37-23 heading into halftime. Since the 14-2 Ohio State lead, Iowa went on a 35-9 run in the next 15 minutes of the first half.

Bennet Stirtz led the Hawkeyes with ten points and was the lone player in double digits in the opening half. John Mobley Jr. led Ohio State with eight points and Devin Royal added six points. Bruce Thornton, who leads Ohio State with 20.4 points per game, was held scoreless in the first half.

Ohio State started the second half strong, cutting the Iowa lead to 40-30 and forcing a Ben McCollum timeout. Iowa answered with a 9-2 run out of that timeout that put the Buckeyes away for good. Iowa would push the lead all the way out to 21 points and 68-47 lead at one point. Iowa went onto win 74-57 behind 22 points from Bennett Stirtz.

Here are six key moments from the Buckeyes 74-57 loss at Iowa:

Ohio State gets John Mobley and Devin Royal back

The Buckeyes had gone three games without starting guard John Mobley Jr. and one game without starting forward Devin Royal. They were both back in the starting lineups for this game but starting center Christoph Tilly missed the contest with a calf injury.

Hot start for the Buckeyes

Ohio State started the game on fire from the field, knocking down its first five shots, four of them being three-pointers, and taking a 14-2 lead.

Iowa answers with a game-changing run

Iowa then answered the opening Ohio State run with a run that lasted the last 15 minutes of the first half, heading into halftime on a 35-9 run and leading the Buckeyes 37-23.

Ohio State scoring drought

The Buckeyes picked a very bad time to go cold from the field. After starting 5-for-5 from the floor, the Buckeyes went 2-for-16 over the next 12 minutes and only scored six points, watching Iowa open up a 33-21 lead with two minutes remaining in the first half.

Iowa’s plan to slow down Ohio State’s offense

The Hawkeyes came into this game with a clear gameplan: Shut down Bruce Thornton and force others to beat you. And they executed it to a T, with Thornton going scoreless in the first half and finishing with ten points.

McCollum’s timeout

Ohio State started the second half strong on a 7-3 run to cut the Hawkeye lead to 40-30, but a timely Ben McCollum timeout killed the momentum. Iowa then went on a 9-2 run and controlled the rest of the game.