Chris Holtmann shares importance of Iowa win

Ohio State‘s season has taken a turn for the worse since the new year arrived, but they might’ve just flipped the switch needed to get back on track.

After defeating Northwestern on New Year’s Day, the Buckeyes dropped five games in a row against Big Ten opponents. That losing streak was tossed aside Saturday when the Buckeyes bested Iowa 93-77, and after the game head coach Chris Holtmann discussed why the win was so important for his program.

“It certainly feels really good,” Holtmann said. “But to your point, it’s one game. I think that’s the perspective. It’s one game. We’re focused on the same thing that we are after a loss. How do we improve and how are we playing? I think we’ve had some good stretches of play and certainly some disappointing stretches of play in the last five games. As much as anything, it’s about how we’re playing. Tonight, I thought we had some really good things in the areas that we’ve been emphasizing. I thought we did a good job.”

Before the Iowa win, Ohio State had not scored more than 73 points against a conference opponent at all — though the Hawkeyes rank last in the Big Ten in total defense. Iowa is also the conference’s highest-scoring team at 81.7 points per game and bested that average in three of the last four games coming into the matchup — but did not against the Buckeyes.

Ohio State was able to run away from the top-scoring, worst-defensive team in the conference by ironically outscoring the Hawkeyes by 14 points in the second half. Tied at 37 right after halftime, the Buckeyes mounted a 16-4 run that put the game away before the final buzzer sounded. OSU ultimately scored 56 points in the second half, shooting lights out at around a 65 percent clip.

Freshman Brice Sensabaugh was sensational with 27 points to lead all scorers. He nailed 10-of-12 of his shots including four three-pointers. The mark is good for a new career-high and notched his seventh 20-point game of the season at the same time. Isaac Likekele had his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds as well.

Next up for Ohio State is a road trip against a tough Illinois squad. Kenpom predicts the Illini defeating the Buckeyes 74-73 and gives OSU a 43 percent chance of leaving Champaign with a win.