Hawkeyes fall to Buckeyes at Big Ten Tournament
There will be no repeat for the Iowa basketball team. The Hawkeyes dreams of winning four games in four days and capturing another Big Ten Tournament title came crashing down on Thursday afternoon in Chicago when Ohio State made plays down the stretch to beat the Hawkeyes 73-69.
The Hawkeyes fall to 19-13 on the season and are expected to receive an invitation to play in the NCAA Tournament next week. The NCAA Tournament bracket is slated to be revealed on Sunday at 5 pm on CBS.
The first half of the game was not played at the pace that the Hawkeyes would have preferred, but Filip Rebraca got off to a good start. He scored six of Iowa’s first eleven points as Iowa opened up an 11-8 lead on the Buckeyes. Rebraca led the Hawkeyes with 20 points and 7 rebounds.
Rebraca was part of one of the highlight plays of the first half. Kris Murray blocked a shot at one end and recovered the ball and brought it up the court and found Rebraca for a dunk that put Iowa up 24-23.
Ohio State lead 29-28 at the break, but the Hawkeyes came out strong and claimed the lead after a three point field goal by Kris Murray. The junior forward finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds in the game. Murray gave Iowa a four point edge at 37-33 after converting an old fashioned three point play, but the Buckeyes wouldn’t allow the Hawkeyes to pull away.
During the middle portion of the second half, the two teams traded the lead six times before Patrick McCaffery made a short jumper to put Iowa up 51-48. Tony Perkins lead the way in the second half, scoring 11 of his 16 points after the break. He hit a pair of free throws and then an Ohio State turnover converted into a dunk by Payton Sandfort and Iowa was up 55-51.
But, the Buckeyes continued to respond. Justin Sueing, who scored 14 points, drilled a three pointer to pull within one at 55-54. Then it was freshman Roddy Gayle Jr. who took over. He scored on two drives and then with the game tied at 61, he drilled a three pointer to put Ohio State up 64-61. Sueing followed that up with a three off a scramble play and it was 67-63.
From there, the Buckeyes salted away the win from the foul line and sent Iowa home from the Big Ten Tournament.
