Buckeyes pound Iowa as Sullinger scores 28

Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa

Jared Sullinger was walking back to the Ohio State locker room with a towel draped around his neck when he spotted freshman Shannon Scott being grilled by reporters.

The effervescent Sullinger pulled up in front of the scrum and started making faces, drawing a wide smile from Scott.

Sullinger had every reason to be in good spirits after the show he put on.

Sullinger scored a season-high 28 points and sixth-ranked Ohio State pounded Iowa 76-47. Deshaun Thomas added 10 points for the Buckeyes, who won for the second time on the road.

“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. Coach [Thad] Matta thinks that works to our advantage,” Sullinger said.

Ohio State (15-2, 3-1 Big Ten) went on a 16-2 run sandwiched around halftime to jump ahead 38-21 early in the second half. The Buckeyes steadily built that lead to 60-33 with just under eight minutes left and cruised to their third Big Ten win by at least 29 points.

Eric May had nine points to lead Iowa (10-7, 2-2), which was a dreadful from the 17-of-53 from the floor while committing 20 turnovers.

“I don’t think we thought we would get blitzed like that,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.

Once Sullinger’s teammates got going, Iowa found itself overmatched.

Thomas, who’d been quiet early, hit a jumper and a layup to push Ohio State ahead 50-29. Aaron Craft then dished through a pair of Iowa defenders and led Sullinger to the basket, a brilliant play that sucked what little life was left from a near-sellout crowd.

“I still think our defense kind of got us going and generated some offense for us and we were able to convert,” Matta said.

William Buford finished with eight points and 11 rebounds for the Buckeyes, who shot 64.5 percent from the field in the second half.

But Buford couldn’t buy a basket in the first half, missing all 10 of his shots. Sullinger picked him up, outscored cold-shooting Iowa by himself in the first 13 minutes.