Junior forward Keita Bates-Diop was one of five Buckeyes in double figures Thursday night, as he led Ohio State with 27 points in a 92-81 win over Iowa in Iowa City.
The win moved the Buckeyes to 3-0 in conference play and 12-4 overall. Iowa falls to 9-8 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten play.
Bates-Diop was joined in double figures by Jae’Sean Tate with 18 points, Kam Williams with 13, C.J. Jackson with 12, and Kaleb Wesson with 10.
Thanks to Bates-Diop and Tate, the Buckeyes outscored Iowa 42-26 in the paint, and defensively Ohio State only allowed two fastbreak points from the Hawkeyes.
The first five minutes of the game was back and forth, but a jumper by Wesson to make it 14-12 Ohio State with 15:08 to play would give OSU a lead they would never relinquish. A 10-2 run buoyed by five points from Williams put the Buckeyes up 23-13 a little under three minutes later.
A three-pointer by Tate gave Ohio State their biggest lead at 42-27 with 3:18 to play. A layup by Bates-Diop two minutes later grew the lead to 17 points. The Buckeyes went to the half with a 46-32 lead.
The Hawkeyes then made things extremely interesting by opening the second half on a 9-0 run. Suddenly, there were visions of past collapses floating around, but apparently Ohio State wasn’t buying into the way things used to be. They answered Iowa’s 9-0 run with a 12-2 run of their own, seizing control of the game once again and simmering down the Hawkeye hopes pretty quickly.
Bates-Diop went on an 8-0 run during that stretch.
The Hawkeyes were able to cut the lead back to nine points a couple of times, but could never get closer as Ohio State kept them at arm’s reach with relative ease.
The Buckeyes shot 35-66 (.530) from the field, hitting over .500 of their shots in both halves.
Bates-Diop shot 10-of-17 from the field for his game-high 27 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds. It was his seventh double-double of the season.
Up next for Ohio State is a gigantic matchup against No. 1 Michigan State Sunday at 4:30 pm from Value City Arena. The game will be aired on CBS.
Three Things We Learned
1. Mental toughness is back in town.
I feel like we already sort of knew this, but the way the Buckeyes withstood Iowa’s 9-0 run to start the second half was impressive. No, the Hawkeyes aren’t very good, but they were at home and they were desperate. The crowd was trying to will them over the hump, but Keita Bates-Diop broke that will repeatedly. There was nobody capable of doing that a year ago and we saw the results all too often.
2. Undefeated in Big Ten play is big no matter the opposition.
Look, I know Wisconsin and Iowa aren’t very good this year, but it is still a very good sign that the Buckeyes are going on the road and beating teams they should beat. That hasn’t always been the case the last few years. And now they have wins on the road in Madison and Iowa City. I’m going to go out on a limb right now and say that’s a pretty rare thing. In fact, I’m so intrigued by this scenario that I am now forced to find out the last time it happened. One moment while I research this. Okay, it was the 2013-2014 season. The Buckeyes finished 10-8 in Big Ten play that year and lost to Dayton in the NCAA Tournament.
3. Kam Williams is back…for now.
Ohio State needs scoring out of the backcourt, and they can get it from Kam Williams. Sometimes. Tonight, he was very helpful, scoring 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. It was his fifth game scoring in double figures in Ohio State’s last six outings. These are the first double-digit scoring games of the year for him, save for the 16 points he scored in the season opener against Robert Morris. This is a very welcome sign as the Buckeyes begin a difficult two-game stretch between No. 1 Michigan State and Maryland. The problem, however, was the one game in the last six where Williams didn’t score in double figures. It was against North Carolina and he went scoreless. Too often this season Williams has vanished. The Buckeyes are hoping those days are over.
Box Score
