Hawkeyes hand Buckeyes another loss

Associated Press

Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa and Ohio State are trending in completely different directions.

That’s great news for the Hawkeyes — and terrible news for the suddenly scuffling Buckeyes.

Luka Garza scored 16 points, Tyler Cook had 15 points with eight rebounds and Iowa rolled past No. 16 Ohio State 72-62 on Saturday, handing OSU its third straight loss.

Ryan Kriener scored 11 points for the Hawkeyes (14-3, 3-3 Big Ten), who have won three straight after a 0-3 start to league play.

“We’ve obviously got a lot of work to do and a lot to improve on,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said.

That was painfully evident in a tough road environment in Iowa City.

Iowa used a 9-0 run early in the second half to seize control, and Joe Wieskamp put Iowa ahead 53-41 with four straight free throws.

Wieskamp got to the line by drawing star Kaleb Wesson’s fourth foul, which came with 8:23 left. Wesson was held to a season-low two points on 1 of 5 shooting.

“If you let Kaleb Wesson catch it deep, he’s going to get 25,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “I wasn’t expecting him to get two. But I didn’t want him to get 20.”

The Buckeyes (12-4, 2-3) then threw a zone at Iowa, and Isaiah Moss drilled an open 3 to make it 59-45. But Iowa’s raucous crowd went silent after Cook — who missed Wednesday’s win at Northwestern with a sore knee — appeared to hurt his left ankle and was taken to the locker room with 4:08 left.

Ohio State’s C.J. Jackson, the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.1 points, didn’t start for the first time this season. He has been dealing with leg cramps and finished with 10 points before fouling out with 20 seconds to go.

Andre Wesson had 13 points for Ohio State, which committed a season-high 21 turnovers.

J-BO NOT A NO-SHOW

Jordan Bohannon was just 1 of 7 shooting. But Bohannon did have eight assists, four rebounds and two steals, and he passed the 1,000-point mark late in the second half. “I thought he was great,” McCaffery said. “He pushed the ball.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Losses to Rutgers and Iowa, albeit on the road, aren’t very good ways to stay ranked. But will the Buckeyes tumble 10 spots and out of the poll? It’ll be interesting to see if they do on Monday. The Hawkeyes, on the other hand, could return to the poll after a 2-0 week.