Road woes continue for Iowa men in 82-65 loss at Ohio State
By Hawk Fanatic
The inability to win on the road in the Big Ten is starting to define the Iowa men’s basketball team, and unless that changes in a hurry, this season will almost certainly end in disappointment.
Iowa lost at Ohio State 82-65 on Monday in a game that barely was competitive in the second half.
Iowa fell to 0-5 on the road in Big Ten play, and 13-8 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
Iowa trailed 30-26 at halftime as sophomore forward Owen Freeman and graduate guard Drew Thelwell combined for 22 of Iowa’s 26 points.
Iowa struggled from 3-point range in the first half, but to no fault of Thelwell as he made all three of his attempts, while his teammates were a combined 0-11 from behind the behind arc.
Each team only attempted one free throw in the first half and they combined for just five turnovers.
Iowa fell behind 28-18, but then closed the first half on an 8-2 scoring run, powered by two 3-point baskets from Thelwell.
Payton Sandfort also scored his first two points of the game on basket with 1:14 left before halftime. He had missed his first six shots from the field.
Neither team would score again in the first half.
Payton Sandfort made the first basket in the second half, cutting the deficit to 30-28, but then Ohio State answered with an 11-1 scoring, expanding its lead to 41-29 with 16 minutes left to play.
Payton Sandfort then made a three to the cut deficit to 41-32 with 15:45 left to play.
But the Buckeyes responded with a 9-0 scoring run, building its lead to 50-32 with 12 minutes remaining.
The game was never in doubt again.
Ohio State had a 43-31 rebounding advantage, and that according to Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery was a key factor in how the game played out, especially in the second half.
“We scored the first possession of the second half and felt good about it, they went on a little bit of run and we didn’t respond correctly in that stretch,” Fran McCaffery said on the Learfield post-gamer radio interview. “We started quick shooting the ball a little bit, but we had some really good looks. It wasn’t like a couple of the other games where we would start jacking. We did that a couple times, but tot too bad.
“But when we were missing, we didn’t get any back. We had seven offensive rebounds in the first half and we ended the game with seven offensive rebounds. When you have a stretch like we did there when the is not dropping, even when you’re executing and getting good shots, you’ve got to back and get one and put it back in.”
Thelwell led four Iowa players in double figures with 20 points.
Iowa only made 7-of-25 shots from 3-point range and just 10-of-17 free throws, which continues to be a problem.
It’s hard to envision Iowa making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid without winning at least one Big Ten road game.
Iowa has road games left against Rutgers, Maryland, Illinois, Northwestern and Nebraska.