Observations: Iowa Shines in Columbus

Hawkeye Basketball Picks Up Big Road Win at Ohio State Saturday

Iowa forward Keegan Murray (15) celebrates after the win over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Feb. 19, 2022 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports)

Box Score 

Five observations from Iowa’s 75-62 win over Ohio State:

GLASS CLEANERS

Iowa outrebounded Ohio State 40-31, with 20 of Iowa’s rebounds coming on offense.

The Hawkeyes had 18 second-chance points.

What was interesting about the numbers was how they were spread out. Eight of the 10 Hawkeyes who played had at least one offensive rebound. Patrick McCaffery led the way with four.

Two offensive rebounds led to …

THE DAGGER POSSESSION

The Hawkeyes had the ball with 2:40 to play, up 68-62, when they came up with the biggest possession of the game.

Kris Murray missed a 3-pointer, but Connor McCaffery tracked down the offensive rebound for 20 more seconds of shot clock. Ahron Ulis drove to the basket and missed the layup, but Jordan Bohannon scrambled to get the loose rebound. After taking 18 more seconds off the clock, Ulis passed to McCaffery, who hit a 3-pointer.

In all, the Hawkeyes took 56 seconds off the clock.

“It was an incredibly competitive possession for us,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said after the game. “We got two offensive rebounds, and we took almost a minute off the clock.

“You couldn’t have asked for anything better in that situation.”

KEEGAN TAKES OVER

Iowa’s Keegan Murray had 24 points. Twenty of those came in the first half, and 10 of those came in a run that got the Hawkeyes to within 21-20.

That proved to be a crucial early stretch for the Hawkeyes to regain poise after they struggled to start the game.

“He just plays the game with a tremendous amount of confidence, which is tremendously impactful for his teammates,” Fran McCaffery said.

LET’S TALK DEFENSE

Ohio State shot 46.9 percent, but the Buckeyes made just eight second-half field goals and were 2-of-11 in 3-pointers.

The Hawkeyes were especially good at cutting off the Buckeyes after they had started the game getting easy shots at the basket.

“I don’t think the strategy was all that complicated,” Fran McCaffery said. “We were getting beat downhill. Things started getting away from us a little bit.”

Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell had 15 points, almost five below his season average.

“I think we have a lot of respect for him,” McCaffery said. “We switched, and tried to keep the X on the O, which is important for him. Give him a little space, and he’s a handful. But I thought we fought him in the post. He made tough shots. He still scored, but he had to make tough shots.”

A SIGNATURE WIN

Iowa needed a signature win for its postseason resumé, and this was a good one.

It was the first Quadrant 1 victory for the Hawkeyes, according to the NCAA’s NET rankings. It was also a road conference win, and Iowa’s first win over a ranked team.

The Hawkeyes handed the Buckeyes their first home loss of the season — Ohio State had won its first 11 games.

Iowa repeated its win at Columbus from last season.