The Buckeyes lost their seventh game in a row on Thursday, falling 92-75 to an Iowa team it defeated by 16 in Columbus on Jan. 21. That remains the most recent win on Ohio State’s résumé as the Buckeyes proved incapable of a similar performance in the rematch at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Ohio State had a far better offensive showing than it did in its last outing (41 points against Michigan State), but Iowa’s high-octane offense still mounted a double-digit halftime advantage thanks to a late 3-point barrage. Things only got worse for the Buckeyes from there, as Iowa pulled away even further at the start of the second half and continued to dominate thereafter.
The Hawkeyes thoroughly outscored Ohio State in the paint, got the better of the rebounding battle and capitalized on another turnover-laden Buckeye performance. Ohio State shot 57.1% from the field but only led for 3:11 of the contest before all was said and done.
The loss dropped Ohio State four games under .500 on the season and moves the Buckeyes’ Big Ten record to 3-12, tying Chris Holtmann’s most regular-season conference defeats as head coach of the program. And there are still five games left until the postseason begins.
It was Ohio State’s 12th loss in the past 13 games.