Patrick McCaffery's clutch free throws pull Iowa past Ohio State

It has been an up and down season for Patrick McCaffery. He has missed some time due to injury and illness, while at other times his contributions have been hit and miss. Tonight, his name was called on in the closing seconds to make clutch free throws. Patrick did just that making making all four of his free throw attempts in the final 21 seconds of the game. On the final possession, trailing by two, Ohio State could not corral an offensive rebound and were unable to get off a shot as the buzzer sounded. Despite a couple of rough stretches, the Hawkeyes came away with a 79-77 victory.

“I knew when I stepped up to the line that I was going to make them and I did. I’m glad we won,” said Patrick McCaffery. “I’ve shot so many free throws in my life/ I consider myself to be a pretty good free throw shooter. You trust what you’ve put in…lock in on your mechanics, hold your follow through, get it up and it’s going to go in.”

The matchup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday night was between two teams in the bottom half of the Big Ten standings. Ohio State on a three-game losing streak and Iowa coming off of a close loss at Indiana. It seemed destined from that start to be another close conference battle, but the Hawkeyes were looking to come out after losing a couple of close ones.

“I had a feeling a lot of games in this league are going to be like that,” said head coach Fran McCaffery. “Indiana, that game was in the balance, Maryland was in the balance and it always hurts when you lose. That’s what you face, there is no easy game in this league.”

The game got off to a fast paced start with neither side able to build more than a one possession lead. Tony Perkins got off to a hot start making his first three shots of the game and helped the Hawkeyes out to a 17-15 lead. The game continued to go back-and-forth throughout the opening 20 minutes. The largest lead of the half was just four points, but Ohio State got a basket from Felix Okpara in the final minute to make it 38-36 Buckeyes going into the locker room.

The Hawkeyes scored the first four points of the second half, including a transition dunk from Josh Dix to give Iowa the lead, but Ohio State responded. Bruce Thornton and Jamison Battle hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it 44-40. It was time for a response from Iowa. A three-pointer from Payton Sandfort recaptured the lead, while a transition basket from Ben Krikke through contact capped off an 11-4 run. OSU HC Chris Holtman took a timeout with the Hawkeyes all of the sudden garnering the momentum up 51-48.

The momentum was shortlived, as the Buckeyes, once again, regained the lead, but a couple of baskets from Tony Perkins and a dunk from Owen Freeman helped Iowa slowly get their lead to 63-58 over the span of four and a half minutes. Josh Dix proved to be big down the stretch as well knocking down three midrange jumpers. However, whenever the Hawkeyes needed a stop defensively, Ohio State managed to get baskets to keep the game within a couple of possessions. Payton Sandfort said they have to get better on the defensive end, but consistent offense late was the difference maker.

“We still need to get that big stop, that big rebound, which it felt like we never did, but in the Maryland and Indiana game, we lost focus on the offensive end and couldn’t replicate what they did to us.”

“We still need to get that stop and that’s something we have a lot more pride in, but that was a bigtime performance on the offensive end down the stretch.”

Iowa’s inability to get a stop almost cost them, but a double dribble by Roddy Gayle Jr turned the ball over with 23 seconds to play in a one-point game. That forced the Buckeyes to foul and after a pair of free throws, Fran McCaffery was content with the foul up three game. It worked, as Iowa was 5/6 from the line in the final 30 seconds, including four made free throws from Patrick McCaffery.

On the final possession of the game, Dale Bonner intentionally missed a free throw, but Ladji Dembele was able to jar the rebound loose from the hands of Felix Okpara. The ball was free on the floor and a scrum ensued near the Ohio State bench, but a shot never went towards the basket. Iowa 79 Ohio State 77.

“That’s a tough (decision to make). You don’t want them pulling up, shooting a three or somebody gets hung up on a screen and they kick it, guy shoots a three,” said Fran McCaffery. “You’re putting pressure on them to make free throws, but by the same token if you foul three times then you’re putting pressure on your own team. Luckily we made five out of six, proud of Patrick and Payton.”

Tony Perkins finished with a game-high 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Josh Dix and Payton Sandfort each had 15 points. Patrick McCaffery added 10 points off the bench, including a perfect 8/8 from the free throw line.

On the night, Iowa shot 29/53 (54.7%) from the floor and 18/22 (81.8%) from the free throw line. Despite getting outrebounded 30-28 and 13-8 on the offensive glass, the Hawkeyes were able to outscore the Buckeyes 17-0 in transition points.

Up Next, the Hawkeyes travel to State College for a matchup against Penn State on February 8th. The game is set to tipoff at 6:00pm on the Big Ten Network.