Iowa falls short in upset attempt against No. 2 Ohio State

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.

“What I told the team is we're not satisfied,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “Am I proud of their effort? Absolutely.”

But it wasn't easy for the Buckeyes. Even after building a 13-point second-half lead, Ohio State struggled to contain a furious Hawkeyes' rally. The Buckeyes led 69-60 when Iowa freshman Melsahn Basabe went coast-to-coast for a layup to cut the Iowa's deficit to seven points with 1:36 left in the game. After an Ohio State turnover, Iowa junior Matt Gatens hit a 3-pointer with 1:06 left to pull the Hawkeyes within four points at 69-65.

Ohio State's David Lighty scored on a drive to put the Buckeyes back up six points, but Iowa's Zach McCabe cut it to three points with 27 seconds left at 71-68. But the Hawkeyes couldn't get any closer.

Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger led all scorers with 24 points and pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds. Basabe matched Sullinger, scoring a season-high 22 points - including 16 in the first half - and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. He also had six blocks.

Iowa (7-7) kept the Buckeyes off balance for most of the first half. Iowa built a 17-9 lead on a Bryce Cartwright 3-pointer. Then when Ohio State rallied to take a one-point lead on a 13-4 run, Iowa returned with an 8-2 run of its own. Ohio State closed the gap to three points late in the first half before Cartwright sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I thought coming in the game just watching them on film that one of the keys for us, and I think for anybody against this team that I have so much respect for, is the start of the game is going to be critical,” McCaffery said. “I thought we came out in a pretty good frame of mind with the energy that you would expect. We got a lead, and we were able to play from ahead for a good portion of the game.”

Ohio State changed the game with an 16-0 run through the middle of the second half. The Buckeyes turned a three-point deficit into a 13-point advantage.

“Obviously the part of the game that concerned me is when we had a stretch where it seemed like we couldn't score and then our defense fell off just enough,” McCaffery said. “Sullinger was killing us and our rotations weren't as good as they had been. I think the key for us in that situation is we kind of keep it at six or seven, eight as opposed to letting it get to double digits.”

It was Ohio State's fifth straight win in the series, the most for the Buckeyes in the series. Iowa played without starting forward Eric May, who suffered a groin injury last week and was about 60 percent, McCaffery said.