Iowa Basketball Matchup First Look: Ohio State

The Iowa Hawkeyes struggled again on Tuesday night as Jordan Bohannon continues to be cold from deep and CJ Fredrick remain injured (despite starting the game). But the Hawkeyes relied heavily on their bench to squeeze out an 84-78 win over the Michigan State Spartans to get back into the win column.

Now a new challenge awaits Iowa as they’re set to play host to the #7 Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday night. The two are tied along with Wisconsin for third in the Big Ten, behind first place Michigan and second place Illinois. But the Buckeyes come in riding a three-game winning streak and winners of four of their last five.

The winner of this one will have an inside track to competing for the Big Ten title while the loser may well fall too far behind to have a realistic chance. Here’s your first look at Iowa’s matchup with Ohio State.

Matchup: #7 Ohio State Buckeyes (14-4, 8-4) at #8 Iowa Hawkeyes (13-4, 7-3)
When: Thursday, February 4th at 6:00 pm CT
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena - Iowa City, IA
TV: ESPN
Video Streaming: WatchESPN.com
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (click to find your local station)
Audio Streaming: TuneIn Radio

Statistical Overview

Iowa

Points Per Game: 89.4
Points Allowed Per Game: 74.4
Rebounds Per Game: 41.1
Assists Per Game: 20.4
Blocks Per Game: 4.6
Steals Per Game: 6.0

Ohio State

Points Per Game: 77.1
Points Allowed Per Game: 67.7
Rebounds Per Game: 37.3
Assists Per Game: 12.3
Blocks Per Game: 3.3
Steals Per Game: 4.4

Statistical Leaders

Iowa

Scoring: Luka Garza 26.5 PPG
Rebounds: Luka Garza 8.8 RPG
Assists: Jordan Bohannon 4.5 APG

Ohio State

Scoring: EJ Liddell 15.3 PPG
Rebounds: EJ Liddell 6.9RPG
Assists: CJ Walker 3.9 APG

Advanced Stats

Adjusted Offense
IOWA 125.6 (1) OHIO STATE 119.7 (5)
Adjusted Defense
IOWA 99.0 (117) OHIO STATE 95.6 (67)
Adjusted Tempo
IOWA 70.1 (103) OHIO STATE 66.8 (270)
Adjusted Efficiency Margin
IOWA +26.63 (5) OHIO STATE +24.1 (10)

Projected Outcome

Final: Iowa 83, Ohio State 79
Total Possessions: 68
Win Likelihood Percentage: 64%

Note: Advanced stats are taken from KenPom.com. National rankings are provided following each metric. Adjusted offense and defense metrics measure the points scored per 100 possessions, adjusted for quality of opponent, location and when it was played (more recent gets more weighting). Adjusted tempo is defined as total possessions divided by minutes, adjusted for schedule considering the preferred pace of each team.