For the first time in the Chris Holtmann era, Ohio State has lost three games in a row.
After dropping an 86-77 loss to Michigan State and a 64-61 loss to Rutgers, the Buckeyes fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes, 72-62, Saturday afternoon in Iowa City, Iowa. Ohio State led by two points at the half, but the Hawkeyes had a 48-36 advantage on the second half to cruise to the win.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| #16 OHIO STATE (12-4) | 26 | 36 | 62 |
| IOWA (14-3) | 24 | 48 | 72 |
The three straight losses will likely drop the No. 16 Buckeyes out of the AP top-25 poll. Ohio State is in a difficult portion of its schedule and takes on Maryland, which just beat Indiana, on Friday before playing host to Purdue.
Neither the Buckeyes nor Hawkeyes played a clean first half, combining for 20 turnovers. But Iowa pulled it together and hit 55.6 percent of its shots in the second half while Ohio State continued to flounder, making just 37.3 percent of its shots in the latter 20 minutes. The Buckeyes set a season high with 20 turnovers.
Four Iowa players scored double-digit points, and two Ohio State players reached double digits. Andre Wesson led the team with 13 points.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | IOWA |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | POINTS | 72 |
| 22-59 (37.3%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 25-55 (45.5%) |
| 10-25 (40%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 4-16 (25%) |
| 8-11 (72.7%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 18-25 (72%) |
| 21 | TURNOVERS | 14 |
| 37 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 37 |
| 12 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 9 |
| 25 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 28 |
| 32 | BENCH POINTS | 16 |
| 1 | BLOCKS | 6 |
| 9 | STEALS | 11 |
| 14 | ASSISTS | 15 |
For the second game in a row, Kaleb Wesson found himself in early foul trouble. He picked up two fouls in the first three minutes. Unlike against Rutgers, when he opened the first half with 10 quick points, he never found his rhythm against the Hawkeyes. Wesson mustered just two points and five rebounds.
Chris Holtmann tapped into his bench for much of the game, and Musa Jallow and Jaedon LeDee provided short bursts of energy, but no one offered a sustained outlet of offense. Jallow had eight points and LeDee scored six points and grabbed a pair of rebounds.
Luka Garza led Iowa with 16 points. Tyler Cook added 15 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Ohio State went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line compared to Iowa, which shot 17-for-23 from the charity stripe.
After starting each of Ohio State's past 39 games, C.J. Jackson came off the bench. He was the only player who had started every single game this season entering Saturday. In his first playing time off the bench since early last season, Jackson scored nine points. Keyshawn Woods started in Jackson's place and scored two points and had five rebounds.
