Iowa @ Ohio St. preview

Iowa at Ohio St.

Last Meeting ( Feb 4, 2021 ) Ohio St. 89, Iowa 85

Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp combined for 43 points as No. 9 Iowa defeated struggling fourth-ranked Ohio State 73-57 on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.

Garza had 24 points and Wieskamp 19 as the Hawkeyes (18-7, 12-6 Big Ten) withstood an early second-half surge by the Buckeyes (18-7, 12-7), who have lost three straight.

E.J. Liddell led Ohio State with 15 points and Justice Sueing added 12.

Garza, who averages 24.3 points, was held to 16 in the 89-85 home loss to Ohio State on Feb. 4 but made the key baskets when needed this time while also grabbing 11 rebounds.

Iowa led by 14 at halftime, 42-28, but the lead dwindled to 44-42 when the Buckeyes scored 11 in a row until Garza made a layup from Jordan Bohannon to embark the Hawkeyes on a 7-0 run to make it 51-42 with 14 minutes left.

Bohannan (615) had five assists to surpass Jeff Horner (612) for the most in Iowa history.

Wieskamp stretched the margin to 64-51 on a 3-pointer with 7:59 left.

Garza (15) and Wieskamp (13) collectively equaled Ohio State's output in the first half when the Hawkeyes shot 51.6 percent from the floor.

Iowa was up 32-20 when Duane Washington Jr., averaging 15.6 points, scored his first five points to pull the Buckeyes to within 32-25. Garza's short jumper started a 9-0 run to push the advantage to 41-25 for the largest lead of the half.

The Hawkeyes were without sophomore forward Jack Nunge, who will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his right knee during the loss to No. 3 Michigan on Thursday. He averaged 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Iowa finishes the regular season hosting Nebraska on Thursday and No. 23 Wisconsin on Sunday.

The Buckeyes concluded an eight-day stretch that also included losses to Michigan and unranked Michigan State.

OSU will host No. 5 Illinois on Saturday.

--Field Level Media