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Ohio State Rallies to Defeat Iowa, Advances to Big Ten Tourney Quarterfinals

The Ohio State Buckeyes had four players finish in double figures to stave off the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Casey Smith

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Alright Buckeye Nation, you can breathe now.

The Ohio State Buckeyes (15-18, 6-15 Big Ten) won a wild back-and-forth contest 73-69 over the Iowa Hawkeyes (19-13, 11-10 Big Ten) Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes will face Michigan State Friday at approximately 2:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round on Big Ten Network.

With 20 seconds to go following a pair of made free throws from Iowa guard Payton Sandfort, the Buckeyes went to inbound the ball.

After a mishandling in the backcourt that was then a loose ball in the front court, Iowa forward Keegan Murray swatted it out of bounds and the Buckeyes retained possession.

Forward Justice Sueing received the ensuing inbounds pass, was fouled, and made both game-sealing free throws with nine seconds left.

But, it was a freshman who helped get the Buckeyes in a position to win. 

Guard Roddy Gayle Jr. entered play with eight points in his last three games combined but needed just 2:45 to score seven.

A dribble-drive along the right block and a jump stop tied the game at 57 and 61, respectively.

Then, with 3:23 to go, Gayle buried a 3-pointer — his first since Feb. 23 — to give Ohio State its first lead since the 11:13 mark in the second half.

Hawkeyes guard Tony Perkins missed a pair of free throws, as forward Justice Sueing buried a 3-pointer in front of the Buckeyes' bench as they took a 67-63 lead with under two minutes to go.

Murray's 3 dropped to open the second-half scoring, as the Hawkeyes regained the lead. He scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half.

Iowa ramped up the defensive intensity, running a full-court press to open the second half, which contributed to two Ohio State turnovers in a 41-second span.

After a sluggish first 4:46 of the second half in which both teams combined for 15 points, Ohio State and Iowa posted 20 total points in a 2:41 stretch with the Buckeyes outscoring the Hawkeyes 12-8 to take a 48-47 lead.

Guard Sean McNeil drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 51. The Hawkeyes quickly raced back out to a four-point advantage after guard Isaac Likekele turned it over and Sandfort threw down a dunk.

The Buckeyes relied on another 3-pointer to close the gap, this time from Sueing, as they drew within one.

Iowa forward Filip Rebraca made his second of his seven field goals for the game, giving the Hawkeyes a 9-4 lead in the first 5:25 of the first half. Rebraca led all scorers with 20 points.

Ohio State scored eight of the next 10 points with six coming from forward Brice Sensabaugh to take a one-point lead.

Both teams went scoreless for the next 2:16 until a pair of free throws from McNeil.

With 8:12 to go in the opening period, guard Bruce Thornton drove along the right block past Hawkeyes forward Connor McCaffery, laying it in off the glass to end what was a 3:26 span without a Buckeyes field goal.

A Sensabaugh dunk in the open floor split the difference in a 9-2 Iowa run across a 3:52 span, as the Hawkeyes owned a 24-23 lead at the under-4 timeout.

After starting 0-for-5 from deep, Thornton knocked down the second triple in the final four first-half attempts as the Buckeyes carried a 29-28 lead into halftime.

There were eight ties and 18 lead changes between the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes.

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Casey Smith
CASEY SMITH

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