Hawkeye men hang on to slim lead down stretch, nip Ohio State, 79-77

IOWA CITY — Patrick McCaffery said he knew what to do and how it would turn out when duty called Friday night.

McCaffery sank all four of his free throws in the last 21 seconds of his Iowa men’s basketball team’s 79-77 win over Ohio State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I knew I’d step up and make them and I did,” said the senior forward, who was 8-of-8 from the line.

“I felt pretty confident,” said his father and head coach, Fran McCaffery. “I’m glad he knew.”

Patrick McCaffery has had physical struggles in the 2024 portion of this season. He sprained an ankle against Nebraska on Jan. 12, missed three games after that, and hasn’t fully healed since. But he’s getting there.

His 10 points were vital, and his free throw stroke was pure. He entered the game a career 74 percent foul shooter, but looked like a 90 percent guy Friday.

“I’ve shot so many free throws in my life,” he said. “Whether that’s here, workouts, practice. I’ve shot so many free throws and I consider myself to be a pretty good free throw-shooter.

“You just kind of trust what you’ve put in. You can’t create that sort of situation in another environment. … You just lock in on your mechanics, hold your follow-through, get it up, and it’s going to go in.”

The game was still in doubt after McCaffery’s final foul shots put Iowa ahead 78-75 with 11 seconds left. Dale Bonner split two free throws for the Buckeyes, then Iowa’s Payton Sandfort did the same for a 79-76 Iowa edge.

Iowa chose to foul Bonner again rather than give the Buckeyes a chance at a game-tying 3-pointer. Bonner made the first, intentionally missed the second. The carom was up for grabs, but Iowa’s Ladji Dembele tapped it away and Ohio State couldn’t pull the ball out of a scrum as time expired.

The Hawkeyes improved to 5-6 in the Big Ten, 13-9 overall. Ohio State slipped to 3-8, 13-9.

The game had 15 ties and 10 lead-changes.

Iowa’s Tony Perkins led all scorers with 20 points, his fifth-straight game of hitting that mark. He also had team-highs of seven rebounds and four assists.

“He’s playing at definitely an All-Big Ten level,” Sandfort said. “He’s my favorite point guard in the league right now.”

This was the first time all season the Hawkeyes won a game by less than nine points. Two of their previous three games were one-score defeats, by Maryland and Indiana.

Close, this game was for 40 minutes. The largest lead either team had was Iowa by five points. With 3:30 left, both teams had 69 points, 28 rebounds, 13 assists and four steals.

Sandfort and Josh Dix had 15 points each for Iowa, which shot 54.7 from the field for the game. Dix made three midrange jumpers in the final 6:17 and was 7-of-10 in the game.

Freshman power forward Dembele played a career-high 20 minutes, collaring six rebounds and blocking a shot.

“He is a really good low-post defender,” Fran McCaffery said. “He is a really good ball-screen defender and he’s a really good traffic rebounder. That’s a lot of value right there.

“He played like a veteran tonight.”

Meanwhile, the University of Iowa Dance Marathon, which has raised over $34 million for Stead Family Children’s Hospital patients and their families over the last 29 years, will conclude Saturday.

“Obviously a big win for our program,” McCaffery said, “but I say this every year at this time: It’s not the most-important thing that’s happening on our campus. The group of students that participate in Dance Marathon, it’s one of the most impressive things I’ve seen.”

The Hawkeyes’ next game is at Penn State (4-6, 10-11) next Thursday night

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