MBB Preview \\ at Ohio State

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team heads to the Buckeye State to face Ohio State on Monday at 7 p.m. (CT) at Value City Arena.  The game will be televised on FS1.

FOLLOW LIVE
Radio: Monday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call.  The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.  The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
Television: Monday’s game will be televised on FS1 with Jeff Levering (play-by-play) and Stephen Bardo (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The Hawkeyes notched their fourth Big Ten victory of the season, edging Penn State, 76-75, on Friday night in Iowa City.  Iowa had six players score eight or more points and the team hit 11 3-pointers in the victory.
• Graduate Drew Thelwell joined the 1,000 point club on Friday against Penn State.  
• Senior Payton Sandfort is three 3-pointers from passing assistant coach Matt Gatens for third in program history in career 3-point field goals.  He currently has 237 career makes.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten and ranks fourth nationally, averaging 86.8 points per game.  The Hawkeyes have the top field goal (.505) and effective field goal percentage (.587) in the Big Ten, ranking fifth nationally in both categories. 
• Sophomore Owen Freeman is averaging 17.8 points and 6.5 rebounds over his last four games, while shooting 72.5 percent from the field.  He has scored 20+ in twice in the stretch.
• Senior Payton Sandfort has scored 20+ four times in the last six games, giving him a team-best eight 20+ point games this season.  He’s averaging 17.7 points and has made 17 3s during the six-game stretch.
• Sophomore Seydou Traore scored 11 points and had a season-best six rebounds against Minnesota on Jan. 21 in a season-high 26 minutes.  It was his highest scoring total in a Big Ten game this season.
• The Hawkeyes have rallied to win four games this season when trailing in the second half.  Iowa came back from being 15 down in the overtime win over Nebraska on Jan. 7 in Iowa City.  
 • Iowa has shot better than 50 percent from the floor 10 times and better than 60 percent three times, including a season-best 62.7 percent in the win over New Orleans on Dec. 15.  The team is 9-1 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
• Freeman is second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally with a .650 field goal percentage. He is averaging 16.9 points (10th in Big Ten) and 6.7 rebounds per game. He is the only Hawkeye to score in double figures in every game he has played. 
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in 17 games, including 10+ in 11 contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern -- the most since 2022 -- and 17 in the win over Nebraska .  Iowa is tops in the Big Ten (19th nationally), averaging 10.4 per game.  
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (19.5, 2nd in NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.87, 4th in NCAA). The team has had 20+ assists in nine games.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE
• The Buckeyes snapped a three-game losing streak with a 73-70 road victory at No. 11 Purdue on Jan. 21 in West Lafayette. Ohio State rallied from 16 points down to stop the Boilermakers 26-game home winning streak.
• Ohio State has played five straight one-possession games.  The team is 11-8 overall and 3-5 in Big Ten play.
• The Buckeyes have five players averaging at least 9.1 points per game with Bruce Thornton leading the way with a 17.1 scoring average.  The guard also has a team-high 82 assists, shoots 52.3 percent from the field, 41.8 from 3-point range and 84.7 from the line.
• Devin Royal averages 13.9 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds, while John Mobley, Jr. (12.3) and Micah Parrish (11.2) are also in double figures.  Parrish also has a team-best 22 steals.
• Ohio State is second in the Big Ten with a 39.9 field goal percentage defense and third with a 29.2 3-point percentage defense.
• The Buckeyes average 79.7 points, while shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and 37.8 from long range. Ohio State averages 8.1 3s per game.

SERIES HISTORY

• Monday’s game is the 171st meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and Ohio State, dating back to 1915.  The series is tied at 85 apiece.
• The two teams split a pair of meetings a season ago with the Hawkeyes winning, 79-77, in Iowa City.  Ohio State won a neutral site matchup, 90-78, in the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis.
• Iowa lost its last road meeting in Columbus, 93-77, but the Hawkeyes have won two of the last three at Value City Arena.  
• The Hawkeyes are 4-4 at Ohio State since 2014.  Iowa leads the series 10-9 since 2014.

LAST GAME: IOWA 76, PENN STATE 75

Iowa led by 10 points with seven minutes to play before holding off Penn State for a 76-75 victory on Jan. 24 in Iowa City.  The Nittany Lions scored the game’s final seven points, but the Hawkeye held on despite going 1-for-7 from the free throw stripe in the second half.
• Iowa made 11 3-pointers in the win and battled on the glass, only being out-rebounded, 34-33.  
• The Hawkeyes had six players score eight or more points in the game with Drew Thelwell and Owen Freeman leading the way with 16 points.  Freeman also had a game-high nine rebounds.
• Four different Iowa players made at least two 3s in the game.

IOWA IS...

• 6-0 when scoring 90+ points this season.
• 5-0 when winning the rebounding battle.
•10-0 when shooting more free throws than its opponents.
• 10-1 when leading at the half.

HIGH FLYING HAWKS

Iowa is the highest scoring offense in the nation, averaging 86.8 points.  It would be the team’s highest scoring average since 1988-89 (89.6 points).
• The Hawkeyes scored 80+ points in 11 consecutive games from Nov. 26-Jan. 17.  It was the longest stretch of the McCaffery era and the longest for the program since the 1988-89 season (13 straight).
• Iowa has scored 90+ points six times this season and the team has eclipsed the 100-point mark three times.
• The Hawkeyes have averaged 80+ points in each of the last four seasons.

PAYTON WATCH

Senior Payton Sandfort currently is 19th in program history with 1,390 career points.  If Sandfort matches his 2023-24 production, he would climb to 11th place in program history.
• Sandfort is third in program history with 237 career 3-point field goals.  Should he match his junior year totals, he would finish second in program history to Jordan Bohannon (455 makes) in the record books.