No. 2 Ohio State holds off fierce Iowa rally

IOWA CITY - Guts weren't in short supply in Iowa City last night.

Iowa's undersized and underappreciated post players stood toe-to-toe with the nation's most powerful duo under the basket. The Hawkeyes neutralized Ohio State's outside shooters. For 25 minutes, Iowa battled with No. 2 Ohio State, even taking an eight-point first-half lead.

But Ohio State accelerated when the Hawkeyes stumbled. the Buckeyes (15-0) were too deep, too talented and too patient for Iowa in a 73-68 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

But it wasn't easy for the Buckeyes. Even after building a 13-point second-half lead, Ohio State couldn't contain a furious Hawkeyes' emotion. Iowa trimmed the Buckeyes' lead to three points late in the second half.

Jared Sullinger led Ohio State with 24 points. Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe scored a career-high 22 points for Iowa.

HALFTIME RECAP

IOWA CITY -Iowa leads unbeaten and No. 2-ranked Ohio State 35-29 at halftime tonight at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe has scored a season-high 16 points in the first half. The Hawkeyes have outrebounded the Buckeyes 19-16 and forced nine Ohio State turnovers.

Iowa guard Bryce Cartwright drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Hawkeyes the six-point advantage.

Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger scored 10 points.

Iowa (7-6) has lost four straight to Ohio State (14-0) in the series.

Iowa sophomore forward Eric May did not play in the first half and likely will miss the game with a leg injury, likely a muscle pull, Iowa associate sports information director Matt Weitzel said. May tweaked his leg at the end of last week's game against Illinois but participated in Tuesday's shootaround, Weitzel said.