Oden almost perfect, Ohio State wins 16th

Greg Oden, a 7-foot freshman, missed only one shot while scoring 29 points.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- It wasn't so much the career-high 29 points as the final score that put a smile on Greg Oden's face.
Oden dominated inside while hitting 12 of 13 shots from the field to lead No. 7 Ohio State to an 82-63 victory over Iowa Saturday night.
"He's a super talent," Iowa coach Steve Alford said of the 7-foot freshman. "What makes him very, very special is he can get 29 [points] and 10 [rebounds] and win, or he can get 6 and 10 and win -- and he's going to feel the same. It's never been about points. It's never been about any kind of selfish ambition with Greg. It's always been about winning."
Besides being almost perfect from the field, Oden, who turns 19 today, hit all five of his free throws while shooting left-handed. He still wears an elastic brace on his shooting hand -- which he occasionally uses while shooting -- but he continues to use his off hand at the line.
Credits his teammates
"It was all my teammates," the freshman said. "They got me the ball in the right spots and I had nothing else to do but to dunk it."
Oden also had 10 rebounds, one assist and two blocked shots.
"I thought he was tremendous," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.
Ron Lewis had 12 points and Daequan Cook added 11 -- including five during a pivotal 13-0 second-half run -- for Ohio State (16-3, 4-1 Big Ten), which has won six of its last seven.
Mike Conley Jr. totaled 10 assists -- many on passes that led to Oden dunks -- and also made several critical plays in the game. He charged into 7-foot Iowa center Seth Gorney late in the opening half, causing Gorney to get two stitches in his face. He did not play again, opening the door for Oden to take the game over in the second half. Conley also followed up his own bad pass with a steal near mid-court that helped touch off the decisive Ohio State run.
Tyler Smith scored 21 points and the Big Ten's leading scorer, Adam Haluska, added 15 for the Hawkeyes (10-9, 2-3), who have dropped three of four after a season-best four-game winning streak.