Sullinger Shines as Ohio State Cruises Past Iowa

Ohio State has struggled away from Columbus this season, losing two of their three road games while narrowly escaping Columbia with a victory over an average South Carolina team. Those struggles looked to be continuing in the first half of their game against Iowa Saturday afternoon before the Buckeyes blew the game wide open in the second. When it was all said and done, No. 6 Ohio State earned their 15th victory of the season by blasting the pesky Iowa Hawkeyes 76-47.

Jared Sullinger was a monster, scoring a season high 28 points on 13-18 shooting with eight rebounds, four steals and one block. Deshaun Thomas added 10 points, and although William Buford struggled shooting the ball (just 3-14 for eight points), he added 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals. The Buckeyes shot 52% against the Hawkeyes and connected on seven of their 14 3-point attempts, which was a welcomed stat after missing 15 of 17 from deep in their last game against Nebraska.

"The fellas made a conscious effort to throw it inside, because they knew if they threw it inside it was either going to be a double-team or they were going to play one-on-one,” Sullinger said. “Coach Matta thinks that works to our advantage."

The Buckeyes also throttled the Hawkeyes on defense. Despite coming into the game with a season average of 46% shooting the ball, Iowa was held to just 32% (17-53) against the Buckeyes. The Hawkeyes were outrebounded 39-29 and committed 20 turnovers in a game where none of their players reached double-digit points. It was a frustrating day for everyone in black and gold -- including Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery -- who was on the wrong end of a technical foul call after complaining to the refs in the second half.

"I don't think we thought we would get blitzed like that," McCaffery said after the game.

As the Buckeyes came into the day with a focus on limiting turnovers, the start of the game had to be disappointing for coach Matta. Craft turned the ball over on Ohio State’s first possession and coughed it up two more times in just four minutes. The whole team (outside of Sullinger) seemed out of sync as the whistle-happy refs limited Ohio State’s aggressiveness. Three Ohio State starters (Smith Jr., Craft and Thomas) picked up two fouls eight minutes into the game and the Buckeyes were in a dog fight. Despite Iowa’s terrible shooting (22% in the first half), they were able to keep the game close by getting to the free-throw line.

William Buford had a terrible first half, going scoreless on 0-10 shooting. With Ohio State’s foul trouble, coach Matta turned to one of the most reliable players in the country in Jared Sullinger. The big man played nearly flawless basketball through 20 minutes, scoring 15 points on 7-9 shooting with three rebounds and two steals. Shannon Scott played fantastic in relief of Craft, scoring just two points but adding five rebounds and five assists against zero turnovers. The Buckeyes used a 6-0 run to end the half and entered the locker room with a 28-19 halftime lead.

The second half had a completely different feel than the first. The Buckeyes came out and scored five quick points before Iowa’s Melsahn Basabe connected on a jumper for Iowa. After Basabe’s basket it was all Ohio State as the Buckeyes connected on three consecutive 3-pointers broken up by two buckets down low from Sullinger and Craft. In the first five minutes of the second half, Ohio State outscored Iowa 17-8 while building an 18 point lead. The Buckeyes didn’t slow down though and connected on nine of their first 14 second half shots. Sullinger was absolutely unguardable and added 13 points before being pulled to the bench with over seven minutes left. Ohio State’s bench closed out the last four minutes of the game.

The Buckeyes will stay on the road and travel to Champaign for a matchup against the Illinois Fighting Illini on Tuesday, January 10. Illinois is 14-3, but those three losses have come within the last seven games to unranked UNLV, No. 8 Missouri and unranked Purdue. It should be another solid road test for Ohio State as they enter the meat of their conference schedule. The game will tip-off at 9:00 pm EST and be televised by ESPN.

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