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COLUMBUS, OH — The Iowa men’s basketball team’s momentum over the past two weeks came to a halt with a 93-77 loss to Ohio State on Saturday. His two points at halftime His game quickly turned sideways in the second half as the Ohio Sate started with his 16–4 run and carried the momentum to the final buzzer.
It’s worth noting that Saturday was Iowa’s first game of the week after Wednesday night’s scheduled game against Northwestern University was postponed. How much did that affect your performance on Saturday? Coach Fran McCaffery and the players said after the game that it hadn’t had a big impact on their preparation, but their levels of effort and energy weren’t up to the required level. It was clear.
“We have to take a professional approach,” said center Philippe Rebraca. . .”
Rebraca pointed to the “road warrior mentality” needed to win away from home in the Big Ten. And on Saturday, Iowa (he’s 12-7, 4-4 in the Big Ten) didn’t have it. Uncharacteristic efforts on both sides of the court raise questions such as: What was wrong with the Hawkeyes against Ohio State?
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Poor offensive execution set the tone early on
The Iowa offense got out of sync early on, and the Hawkeyes lost a chance to build an early lead. Both teams exchanged three turnovers each in the first two minutes of play. By the end of the first half, Iowa had amassed nine turnovers. To put that into perspective, teams average 10 people per game.
That metric improved in the second half, but 14 total turnovers on Saturday was too many.
“It was unacceptable,” said director Fran McCaffrey. “I give Ohio State credit, but you can’t just flip him 14 times on the street and hope to win.”
The Hawkeyes were able to force Ohio State’s eight turnovers in the first half, but were unable to convert them on the other side, scoring just four points from the turnovers. The pace favored Iowa as they won a rebounding battle in the first half and played in transition from an Ohio State mistake, but seven unforced turnovers indicated something was wrong, Rebraca said. I got
“I don’t know what it was,” said Rebraca. “I may have only been out of basketball for a week, but I feel a little nervous, out of flow, a little nervous. We had an over, so we need to do a better job. Stay focused and keep your cool.”
Going into the second half, Iowa’s normal ball movement was absent as the team relied on quick shots to counteract Ohio State’s runs. The team shot 48% from the field in the second half, an acceptable number, but poor shot selection and poor defense meant Iowa cut into the deficit when they had chances. I couldn’t.
“You want to go[at a fast pace]. That’s how we do it,” McCaffery said. “But the ability to shoot good, to secure someone to get the rebound…we cut it to eight points many times but just couldn’t get the stop or two we needed. I think we all had it, maybe we were trying to be aggressive and not when we shouldn’t, but I think we’ll learn from that.”
Defensive and board breakdowns cost Iowa heavy losses
Offensive mistakes aside, poor defensive effort contributed to Saturday’s defeat. Coming into Saturday’s game, Iowa was last in the Big Ten (he had 72 points per game) but gave up his season-high scoring totals, including his 56 in the second half. Ohio State averaged just 67 points during its five-game losing streak.
The problem was exacerbated by poor rebounding efforts in the second half. Ohio State came off the field in the second half where he shot 22-of-34 and from mistakes he had eight offensive rebounds, creating a second-chance opportunity.
“He’s performed very poorly defensively and on the grass,” McCaffery said. “They didn’t miss a lot of shots and when they missed they got them back. That makes it really hard to win.”
Problems started early as poor defensive rotation and effort brought Ohio State open looks on the perimeter. The Buckeyes started off slowly, shooting 2-of-7, but picked up their momentum as the game continued. They shot 47% from the field in the first half and converted six straight shots to start the second half. Perimeter problems led to problems in dribble drive situations as Ohio State scored a total of 50 points in the paint.
“The shooter was open, the lane to the basket was open,” Chris Murray said. “We need to improve our rotation, especially in the first half. We need to improve our rotation and our communication.
When asked how the team could improve ahead of Thursday’s game at Michigan State, Levraka noted paying more attention to details in scouting reports. On Saturday, the Buckeyes were able to break a losing streak after key on the Ohio State roster had too many of his players and played to their strengths.
Iowa enters a crucial period in late January and early February, with key matchups that determine the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament seeding. McCaffery said the team outperformed Saturday’s performance, but in the conference he’s 4-4 in his play and the Hawkeyes will need to recalibrate soon.
“We had a big game going on with each other,” Murray said. “We are 4-4 in the Big Ten. Obviously we want to be better than that, but we have a big game next week and we are ready.”
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