He might have been cold early, but Ohio State junior forward Justin Ahrens didn’t miss much late.
After missing his first four 3s on the night, Ahrens hit three straight in a two-minute stretch in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, giving the No. 7 Buckeyes (15-4, 9-4 Big Ten) some much-needed breathing room to put away No. 8 Iowa (13-5, 7-4) 89-85 on the road Thursday.
“Give [Ahrens] credit. He came in hunting, he came in really confident,” head coach Chris Holtmann said. “He came in hunting shots, and (assistant coach) Ryan Pedon put him in great positions a couple times with a couple of his calls from the bench. Fantastic positions with a couple of those 3s.”
Even with that effort from Ahrens, who finished with nine points, Iowa trailed just three points with in the waning moments. However, Ohio State junior guard Duane Washington iced the game on the free throw line with 17.5 seconds remaining to close out the win.
Ahrens drilled back-to-back shots from deep to put Ohio State ahead 82-78 with 3:55 to play, and a minute later he did it again, extending the Buckeye lead to seven points with 2:39 left on the clock.
The Hawkeyes led at halftime, but a one-dribble jump-hook from Kyle Young gave Ohio State its first lead of the second half around the midway mark, coming just a few minutes after the Buckeyes went down by a double-digit margin.
The Buckeyes kept the game within a possession or two despite a shooting slump to begin the second half, but back to back 3s from junior guard Joe Wieskamp and redshirt senior center Luka Garza extended the Hawkeye lead to 61-50 at the 14:29 mark.
The Ohio State counter came right away though, with Washington hitting back to back 3-pointers as part of a 7-0 run to put the Buckeyes right back within striking distance.
“Our guys played with great poise, particularly when we were down, and I think probably for that I'm most proud," Holtmann said.
Three Hawkeyes got into double-digit scoring in a high-octane first half, with Garza, sophomore forward Jack Nunge and senior guard Jordan Bohannon each logging 11 points, and Ohio State forward Justice Sueing leading all Buckeyes with 10.
Garza finished with 16 points on the night, but just five in the second half, and the nation’s leading scorer missed his final five shots.
Despite committing six more fouls and losing the free throw attempt margin 10-2 in the opening half, Ohio State trailed just one possession at intermission, with Iowa taking a 45-42 lead into the locker room.
“We have an incredibly resilient bunch, as much as any group I’ve coached," Holtmann said.
However, Ohio State was ahead for a slim majority of the first half, as the lead changed 13 times with four ties mixed in.
The Buckeyes got up by as many as eight points early, as freshman forward Zed Key scored three buckets in the low post in the first nine minutes, with the third giving Ohio State a 20-12 edge.
But Garza and the Hawkeyes came storming back, using a 10-0 run following the Key layup to take the lead, and a 6-0 stretch from 3:54 to 3:30 put Iowa ahead by five points late in the opening period.
Ohio State freshman guard Meechie Johnson knocked down back-to-back triples to put the Buckeyes back on top with 1:38 to play in the half, but Iowa scored six of the final eight points to close out the first 20 minutes ahead.
Washington, Young and sophomore forward E.J. Liddell each put up 16 points on the night to lead the Buckeyes.
"People around the country can take this however they want to take this. From Day One we haven't listened to what people have said about us, talked about us," Washington said. "We're really locked in right now, that's what I'm gonna say. We're locked in to the max right now."
The Buckeyes return to the court on Monday, remaining on the road to face Maryland at 9 p.m.
