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By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tuesday was a perfect storm at Value City Arena.
Ohio State scored the most points it had all season against a Big Ten Conference foe and freshman Justin Arens nearly matched his season-long point total.
The result was a 90-70 Buckeye victory over the No. 22/21 University of Iowa men’s basketball team.
After a late C.J. Jackson 3-pointer gave the Buckeyes a 36-33 halftime lead, Ohio State bombarded the Hawkeyes in the second half to the tune of 54 points. The Buckeyes shot 57.7 percent from the field and made eight 3-pointers in 15 attempts.
Iowa was within three at 45-42 with 16:32 mark before Jackson and Ahrens hit 3-pointers in a span of 31 seconds to give the Buckeyes a 51-42 lead. Wieskamp kept Iowa within striking distance, before Ahrens caught fire.
“He was open too much,” said Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery. “Give him credit, he made six 3-pointers, that’s impressive. We were pressing and trapping, so you’re a little susceptible to a guy being open, but I am equally upset with the amount of 3s he made and the amount of 3s they made at the end of the shot clock.”
The freshman hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor and he was fouled on a third — he hit all three free throws — to give Ohio State a 74-56 lead. Ahrens went on to score 25 of his game-high 29 points in the second half.
Iowa followed with an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to 78-67 with 5:28 left, but the Buckeyes scored 12 of the final 15 points to run out a 20-point winner.
Wieskamp led Iowa with 17 points, making 5-of-6 3-pointers. Junior Tyler Cook scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.
Iowa shot 47.3 percent from the field, but went just 6-of-19 from 3-point range. Ohio State out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 36-26, and limited Iowa to 12 points (in 14 attempts) at the foul stripe. The Buckeyes were 22-of-24.
Before Tuesday, Ahrens had scored 38 points and averaged 2.1 points for the season. He made six 3-pointers and went 9-for-9 from the free throw line in the game. Kaleb Wesson scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds and three more Buckeyes reached double digits.
QUOTING HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“You have to give credit to our opponent. They shot the ball extremely well, but we didn’t rebound tonight. Credit to them for that. We missed 29 shots and only got four back; it’s tough to win on the road and have that happen. We had some good individual performances, but at the end of the first half and start of the second half, we weren’t good.”
WORTH NOTING
- Iowa finished with a 38-28 advantage in points in the paint.
- Ohio State’s 90 points are tied for the second-most Iowa has allowed this season (92 at Minnesota).
- Wieskamp made a team-best five 3-pointers, giving him 49 3-pointers for the season. The total is third-most all-time by a Hawkeye freshman.
- Cook (12 points, 10 rebounds) registered his team-best sixth double-double of the season and 15th of his career.
ON THE HORIZON
Iowa returns to action on Saturday, hosting Rutgers in its regular season home finale. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. A limited number of tickets are available at hawkeyesports.com/tickets.
