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LGHL Ohio State drops third straight, loses to Iowa 72-62

Gene Ross

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Ohio State drops third straight, loses to Iowa 72-62
Gene Ross
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


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For the first time under Chris Holtmann, the Buckeyes have lost three games in a row.

For the first time in the Chris Holtmann era, Ohio State (12-4, 2-3) has lost three games in a row, falling 72-62 to Iowa (14-3, 3-3). After dropping their last two contests to Michigan State and Rutgers, the Buckeyes continued to struggle and were unable to stop the skid in Iowa City, a place that has not been kind to OSU athletics in recent years.

Turnovers and foul trouble were the biggest issue for Ohio State this time around, as they turned the ball over a whopping 21 times and had 23 fouls as a team. The shooting was particularly poor as well, as they shot just 37 percent in a game where nothing seemed to go right for the guys in Scarlet.

The Buckeyes leading scorer this season Kaleb Wesson, averaging around 17 points per game, scored just two points in the contest as a result of early foul trouble. Ohio State was led on the scoreboard instead by his brother Andre Wesson, who put up 13 points.

Iowa was led by Luka Garza, who scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. As a team, the Hawkeyes shot 45 percent from the floor and scored 18 of their points at the free throw line. As with almost all of Ohio State’s losses this season, they utilized an effective zone defense to neutralize the Buckeyes on the offensive end.

OSU is now just 2-3 in the Big Ten and has looked particularly bad during this three-game skid. The team has not found ways to score without Kaleb Wesson on the floor and their guard play has not been good. They will have a few extra days to try to figure things out before they return home to take on Maryland on Friday night.


Ohio State won the opening tip to get things underway in Iowa City. Keyshawn Woods got a contested basket to go on the interior as the Buckeyes were on the board first. After the two teams traded empty possessions, it was Luka Garza getting a layup to go for Iowa as the two teams were locked at two apiece three minutes into the game.

Kaleb Wesson again found himself with two quick fouls as he was forced to go to the bench. The Hawkeyes immediately took advantage, drawing a foul inside and getting a point at the line from Tyler Cook. Luther Muhammad drilled a three-pointer, but Joe Wieskamp got a put-back layup at the other end to tie the game up at five. Jordan Bohannon knocked down a three in transition as Iowa took an 8-5 lead.

Jaedon LeDee got on the board with a short jumper to cut the Hawkeye lead to one, but Iowa got it back up to four on an and-one play from Cook. Kyle Young made a nice jump stop move inside for an easy two as both teams started to get sloppy with the ball. At the 12:45 mark, the two teams already combined for 10 turnovers. Musa Jallow would be able to knock down a three, and OSU led 12-11 with 12:22 to go in the period.

Ryan Kriener got the Hawkeyes back on top with a putback layup before another three-ball from Jallow had Ohio State up two. LeDee extended the Buckeye lead to 17-13 with an and-one play off of an offensive rebound heading into the second media timeout.

Kriener got another basket to go inside on a jump hook, and after the two teams traded empty possessions it was Kriener again with a step-back three to give the Hawkeyes back the lead. After two missed free throws from Cook, Kaleb Wesson got involved in the scoring with a layup as Ohio State took a one-point lead with 6:11 remaining until halftime.

Muhammad knocked down a nice mid-range jumper, but Wieskamp got an easy transition bucket after yet another Buckeye turnover. After a bunch of empty possessions on both sides, we headed into the final media timeout of the first period with Ohio State holding a 21-20 lead.

Iowa regained the lead on a baseline jumper from Nicholas Baer, but Muhammad got it right back with a pair of free throws. The Hawkeyes answered with a layup from Cook, but OSU got a three-ball from Justin Ahrens to take a 26-24 lead. Neither team would score on the last few possessions of the period as Ohio State took their two-point lead into halftime.

The first period was not pretty for either team, as both shot under 40 percent from the field. The Buckeyes turned the ball over 11 times, but this was negated by Iowa’s nine turnovers. Muhammad and Kriener tied at seven points apiece to lead all scorers. The first 20 minutes saw 12 lead changes as neither team could really get anything going. Kaleb Wesson played just eight minutes in the half as a result of foul trouble.

Ohio State got on the board first in the second half as Young worked inside for the layup, but Cook answered with a contested layup on the other end on the ensuing possession. After an Isaiah Moss jumper, the two teams traded buckets back and forth as things were tied at 30 apiece with 17:23 to go.

Iowa regained the lead on a second-chance basket from Garza, and after a missed three from Muhammad, Garza would get a three to fall to put the Hawkeyes up five as all the momentum was on their side. Cook threw down a dunk as Iowa went up 37-30, their largest lead of the game.

Ohio State was able to quiet the crowd a bit with a C.J. Jackson three-ball, but after a free throw and a finger-roll finish from Baer, the Iowa lead was back up to seven. Jackson knocked down another three, but Wieskamp answered at the other end with a layup. After a putback basket from Jallow, the Buckeyes found themselves trailing 42-38 with a little over 12 minutes remaining.

Kriener scored inside again and the Buckeyes picked up their sixth team foul of the period with 11:38 to go as Holtmann’s squad continued to flounder. Iowa extended the lead to eight with an alley-oop jam from Kriener as the Hawkeyes looked like they were taking control of the game. After two free throws from Wieskamp, Iowa found themselves up 51-41 with 8:23 remaining.

The Hawkeyes continued to add to their lead, as they worked their way into the double bonus with over seven minutes to go in the contest. The free throws continued to add up, and Iowa led 56-45 with 6:56 left on the clock.

It was a 61-45 lead for the home team as the crowd was worked into a frenzy. Ohio State could not get anything to fall as the Hawkeyes were in full command of the game. The Buckeyes were straight up outplayed down the stretch.

After the two teams played out what seemed like an eternity of a final five minutes for Ohio State, Iowa came away with what wound up being an easy 72-62 win.

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