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Hawkeyes pull away for victory over Buckeyes

On3 imageby:Tom Kakert•about 13 hours•

HawkeyeReport

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In the world of college basketball the month of March is about surviving and advancing. Iowa had their back against the wall on Sunday and found a way to win at Nebraska to earn a spot in the Big Ten Tournament.

On Wednesday night in Indianapolis, the 15th seeded Hawkeyes finished strong and upset the 10th seeded Ohio State Buckeyes, 77-70 to advance in the Big Ten Tournament. With the win, Iowa advances to face the 7th seed Illinois. Game time is set for approximately 5:30 pm and will air on the Big Ten Network.

Iowa was led in scoring by Payton Sandfort, who had 17. Josh Dix had 16 and Brock Harding finished with 15, including a dagger three pointer in the final minute to finish off the Buckeyes.

For the first ten minutes of this game, it looked like it was going to be a defensive struggle. Ohio State opened up 1-10 from the floor and Iowa didn’t score a point before the first media timeout. However, in the final ten minutes of the first half the two teams combined to score 50 points.

Ohio State built a 6-0 lead following a three pointer from Ques Glover. Iowa finally got on the board at the 14:11 mark on a jumper from Ladji Dembele. That seemed to open up the floodgates as Iowa went on an 11-2 scoring binge that was highlighted by a five point spree from Brock Harding, who had 10 points in the first twenty minutes of action.

Ohio State scored the next four points to regain the lead at 13-11 before Harding hit another three to put Iowa back in the lead. The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes before Devin Royal finished off an old fashioned three point play to go up 24-21. Josh Dix hit a three point to tie the game back up and the trading of the lead continued the rest of the half. Payton Sandfort put Iowa back up 37-34 before the break before John Mobley answered with a three of his own to send the foes to the locker room tied at 37.

Payton Sandfort and Ladji Dembele opened the second half with buckets to put Iowa up by four. The Buckeyes continued to answer and a short jumpers by Bruce Thornton kept Ohio State within a pair. Iowa pushed the lead to eight after a jumper by Dix made it 54-46 after the Buckeyes had called a timeout. Then Ohio State made their push, outscoring Iowa 12-3 with Thornton accounting for six of those points. That put the Buckeyes in the lead 58-57 and it looked like they might be in control of the game.

But, Pryce Sandfort had other ideas. He hit back to back shots around the bucket and Iowa was back up by three. Micah Parrish tied it on an old fashioned three point play, but then Iowa put their foot on the gas one final time.

Iowa went on a 7-0 run that was capped by a transition three by Pryce Sandfort to put Iowa up 68-61 with 3:46 left in the game. As you would expect, Ohio State didn’t go away. They kept chipping away at at the lead and a three point play by Thornton got them within four at 72-68. The Buckeyes forced a turnover and scored on a short jumper by Thornton with 45 seconds left and it was a two point game.

Enter Brock Harding. He received a pass on the wing from Josh Dix with 16 seconds left and drilled a three point field goal, which proved to be the dagger in the massive win for the Hawkeyes.

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