Mismatch or monumental upset awaits Iowa men at No. 1 Ohio State

IOWA CITY - On paper, it's the ultimate mismatch.

Ohio State (18-0, 5-0 Big Ten), the defending Big Ten regular-season and tournament champion, is unbeaten and ranked No. 1 nationally for the first time since the 2006-07 season. The Buckeyes have balance at every position and are playing at home.

Iowa has lost a record five straight games to the Buckeyes, including a 73-68 setback in Iowa City two weeks ago. With a loss Wednesday, the Hawkeyes will set a dubious school record with an 0-6 start in Big Ten play. Iowa's first Big Ten basketball season was 1908-09.

“We know we are on the road against the No. 1 team in the country,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “We will need a performance like (Sunday at Minnesota) in terms of minimizing our mistakes. The irony is that our mistakes came in a stretch of six to seven minutes and that against the No. 1 team in the country is not going to get it done.”

Iowa (7-10 overall, 0-5) is 2-18 historically against top-ranked teams, and the last time the school faced a No. 1 squad was in 2005 against eventual national runner-up Illinois. Iowa never has beaten a top-ranked Big Ten squad.

In fact, both of Iowa's top-ranked upsets came on neutral floors. The Hawkeyes beat defending champion Connecticut - the team that knocked Iowa out of the Sweet 16 the previous year - in former coach Steve Alford's debut in 1999 in New York. The Hawkeyes' only other upset of No. 1 was in 1965 against UCLA in Chicago.

Although the circumstances surrounding this game pales to the UConn upset or even facing rival Illinois six years ago, Iowa junior Matt Gatens is excited about facing the nation's top-ranked team.

“It's very rare you get a chance to play the No. 1 team especially even on the road,” Gatens said. “It's an opportunity you don't get very often, and we have to take advantage of it. It should be a lot of fun.”

Iowa did have several chances to upset the Buckeyes the first time the schools played. Iowa led for much of the first half and took a three-point lead with 14:14 left in the game. Then the Buckeyes rolled on 16-0 run that lasted nearly six minutes and crushed the Hawkeyes' upset hopes.

The game featured two of the Big Ten's top freshmen in a back-and-forth performance. Iowa's Melsahn Basabe scored 22 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had six blocks, while Ohio State's Jared Sullinger scored 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

“I'm expecting (Sullinger) to play, and I know he's expecting me to play,” Basabe said. “People are definitely defending me ever since that Ohio State game.”

Basabe's performance also caught Ohio State Coach Thad Matta's attention.

“He's long, he's athletic, he plays extremely hard,” Matta said. “He had a heck of a game Sunday against Minnesota - 20 (points) and 13 (rebounds). Without a doubt he's a force in there, and we've got to do a great job of not giving them him the easy basket.”

Ohio State rolled through its first 14 games and its closest result was by 11 points. But in the last four - starting with Iowa - Buckeyes have won each game by no more than five points.

“Every night they are getting everyone's best,” McCaffery said. “They know we played them tough here, but they haven't really let down. They have played some close games and have shown an incredible ability to win tight games.”