Iowa notes: Oglesby playing a big role

IOWA CITY -- Josh Oglesby connected on his first four 3-point attempts this season, but the Iowa junior's most important contributions occurred last week in Columbus.

Oglesby scored eight points with one assist and no turnovers in 17 minutes to help guide the Hawkeyes to an 84-74 upset of then-No. 3 Ohio State. Oglesby, a 6-foot-5 Cedar Rapids native, hit a 3-pointer in the first half to push Iowa up four points. His offensive output was even more vital in the second half.

With Iowa trailing by three points, Oglesby drilled an open 3-pointer to tie the game with 7:30 left. After the Buckeyes took a two-point lead, Oglesby scored on a layup to knot the game once again.

"I think with confidence, it helps me a lot moving forward," Oglesby said. "Just to see the ball go in and play in crunch time and making a big 3 down the stretch in the second half was huge for myself."

Oglesby missed the first six weeks with a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot. It was surgically repaired, and Oglesby returned Dec. 22. He has played sparsely since returning but was vital down the stretch against Ohio State.

Oglesby played 13 minutes in the second half against Ohio State. He competed at the top of Iowa's 2-3 zone on defense and was effective passing the ball on offense.

"He defends," Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. "I say it over and over, he's not a mistake guy. He's going to shoot 3s. He's going to back cut and make a layup. His closeouts in the zone were incredible. His awareness of where to go, where to be, and how quickly he had to get there ...  he takes advantage of his length and his size at his position. He's going to be a valuable part of our team."

MCCAFFERY DEFENDS MCCABE

It was an understatement to say Zach McCabe struggled last Sunday at Ohio State.

The Iowa senior missed all eight shot attempts in 16 minutes. Two of his shots hit nothing but air, and OSU's students made sure he knew it.

But McCabe was effective in other areas outside of shooting. He had four rebounds and three assists. One of his misses was easily put back for a score by Jarrod Uthoff. McCaffery said he won't discourage McCabe from shooting.

"I think in all honesty he may be rushing a little bit," McCaffery said. "I may talk to him about that, but I thought his shots were good.  I thought he made a couple of them.  He didn't. He still was really good on the defensive end, and he makes the great pass to Josh on the back cut.  He's a very effective player even if he's not making 3s, but I think he will."

TIGHTENING UP THE ROTATION

Iowa's 11-man rotation trimmed to nine for most of the Hawkeyes' game against Ohio State. Freshman shooting guard Peter Jok didn't play, and sophomore point guard Anthony Clemmons played for just five minutes. McCaffery acknowledged he might tighten up the rotation the rest of the way.

"It's possible. I don't want to. It's not going to be by design," McCaffery said. "It will be a game-by-game thing. With the way Josh played the other day, it precluded Clemmons from coming back in. That happened."

NOTES: It's the 193rd meeting between the long-time rivals. It's Iowa's most-played series, and Minnesota has played Wisconsin also 193 times. Minnesota leads Iowa 101-91. ... It's also the first of seven consecutive sellouts at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to finish the regular season.