Iowa vs Ohio State Pregame

Iowa vs #2 Ohio State Pregame

Tonight the Iowa  Hawkeyes(7-6) take on the Ohio State Buckeyes (14-0) from Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.  The Hawks are 0-1 in Big Ten play after losing to Illinois 87-77 last week.  Ohio State is 1-0 in league play, already thumping Indiana to open it's Big Ten season.

Ohio State comes in ranked #2 in the country and featuring star Forward Jared Sullinger.  Iowa Forward Jarryd Cole will get the pleasure of guarding Sullinger who averages 17.6 points per contest and is definitely a Dick Vitale “Diaper Dandy.”

The Buckeyes will have to try to cool off Iowa Guard Matt Gatens who has been red hot over his past 2 games from the 3 point line. Against Louisiana Tech and Illinois, Gatens was a combined 10-19 from three point land and scored both 21 and 22 points in each game.

Iowa has been growing and building character throughout it's non-conference schedule and has definitely shown signs of improvement. After being down 19 to Illinois last week Iowa rallied back to within six points before unfortunately falling short at the end.

Iowa was also up and winning at halftime 40-31 against Iowa State before letting that lead slip away and eventually losing to the Cyclones. Great athleticism and raw talent has kept Iowa in almost every game so far this season but the raw talent does not equal great basketball IQ and wisdom.

Solid free throw shooting wouldn't hurt either.

Joseph Larsen

Community Contributor