B1G MBT, #10 Ohio State vs #15 Iowa, Wednesday, 12 March @ ≈ 6 PM ET, Peacock

[ScriptOhio]

The Game 1 will start at 3:30 ET and Ohio state /Iowa (i.e. Game 2) will start 25 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1.

MBB Preview \\ vs. Ohio State \\ Big Ten Tournament

hawkeyesports.com

MBB Preview \\ vs. Ohio State \\ Big Ten Tournament​

The 15th-seeded Iowa men’s basketball team will face 10th-seeded Ohio State in the opening round of the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday at approximately 5 p.m. (CT) from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The game will be streamed on Peacock.

The 15th-seeded University of Iowa men’s basketball team will face 10th-seeded Ohio State in the opening round of the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday at approximately 5 p.m. (CT) from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The game will be streamed on Peacock.

FOLLOW LIVE
TV: Wednesday’s game will be streamed on Peacock with Paul Burmeister (play-by-play), Robbie Hummel (color) and Nicole Auerbach (sideline) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The 15th-seeded Hawkeyes open Big Ten Tournament play against 10th-seeded Ohio State on Wednesday in Indianapolis. It is the third straight year the two teams have squared off in the tournament.
• Iowa earned the final spot in the tournament field with an 83-68 road win at Nebraska on March 9. The Hawkeyes swept the season series over the Huskers for the first time since 2014-15.
• Senior Payton Sandfort surpassed 1,500 career points against Washington on Feb. 22 and is currently 13th in career scoring (1,572) and third in career 3-pointers (261). He is one 3-pointer behind Jeff Horner for second place on Iowa’s all-time list.
• Sandfort is the second Hawkeye all-time with 1,500+ points, 500+ rebounds and 250+ 3-pointers.
• In the 10 games without injured forward Owen Freeman, Payton Sandfort (16.7) and Dix (15.9) are combining to average 32.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
• Sophomore Pryce Sandfort is Iowa’s third-leading scorer during the stretch, averaging 10 points per contest. Sandfort posted his first career double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in the road win at Nebraska on March 9.
• Payton Sandfort and Dix combined for 50 points against No. 7 Purdue on Feb. 4, 46 points in the Feb. 12 road win at Rutgers, 44 points in the two-point loss to Oregon on Feb. 19 and 42 points in the win over Washington.
• Iowa is second in the Big Ten and 16th nationally, averaging 82.3 points per game. The Hawkeyes have the second-best field goal (.486) and effective field goal percentage (.563) in the league. The team has averaged 80+ points in five consecutive seasons -- the longest stretch in program history.
• Sandfort has scored 20+ nine times in the last 17 games, giving him a team-best 13 20+ point games this season. The Hawkeyes are 9-4 this season when Sandfort goes for 20+ points.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in 26 games, including 10+ in 14 contests -- the most in a season since 2021-22. Iowa is second in the Big Ten (33rd nationally), averaging 9.7 per game. Iowa is 11-3 when making 10+ 3s.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (18.3, 4th in NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.85, 2nd in NCAA). The team has had 20+ assists in nine games. The Hawkeyes have had fewer than 10 turnovers in six of their last nine games.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE
• The Buckeyes finished the regular season with a 17-14 overall record and finished 10th in league play with a 9-11 mark. Ohio State lost four of its final six games and went 4-6 in its final 10 games.
• Ohio State has four players averaging in double figures with Bruce Thornton leading the team in scoring (17.5), assists (4.5) and steals (1.1). The guard has splits of .497/.426/.846 on the year and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio (3.23) in the Big Ten (seventh nationally).
• Devin Royal (13.6), Micah Parrish (13.2) and John Mobley, Jr. (13.2) also average in double digits. Royal also leads the team in rebounding (6.9), while Mobley has a team-high 75 3s.
• The Buckeyes have the second-best 3-point field goal defense (.301), which ranks 14th nationally. Opponents make an average of 6.5 3s per game.
• Ohio State averages 79.1 points per game, while surrendering 73.4. The Buckeyes average 8.3 3-point field goals and shoot 46.7 percent as a team.

SERIES HISTORY
• Wednesday’s game is the 172nd meeting in the all-time series between Iowa and Ohio State, dating back to 1915. The Buckeyes lead 86-85.
• The Buckeyes have won two straight over Iowa, including an 82-65 win in Columbus on Jan. 27. It is the first time Ohio State has won consecutive games over the Hawkeyes since the 2017-18 season. The two teams have split the last 20 meetings.
• Ohio State downed Iowa,90-78, in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis and 83-75 at the 2023 Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.
• Iowa is 2-5 all-time against the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament, including a 67-60 win in the championship game in 2006.
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[ScriptOhio]

Ohio State will open Big Ten Tournament play against Iowa Hawkeyes

As the No. 10 seed, Ohio State will play No. 15 seed Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

www.dispatch.com

Ohio State will open Big Ten Tournament play against Iowa Hawkeyes​

Ohio State’s seed for the Big Ten Tournament solidified with Saturday’s loss at Indiana.

Now, the Buckeyes know their first-round opponent and the path they face when they go to Indianapolis. As a No. 10 seed, Ohio State will play No. 15 seed Iowa on Wednesday inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in a game that will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.

The Buckeyes finished the 2024-25 season 17-14 overall and 9-11 in the Big Ten after Saturday's 66-60 loss to the Hoosiers. In the only matchup between the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes this year, Ohio State won 82-65 in Columbus on Jan. 27.

Should Ohio State win Wednesday, it will play No. 7 seed Illinois on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. That game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.

"We’re focused on Wednesday," coach Jake Diebler said after Saturday's loss. "I know Wednesday’s important, make no mistake about that. I understand that. We need to get a win on Wednesday. Our focus is to live in the moment. There’s a championship to be won in the Big Ten Tournament."

The Wednesday evening game will be the first in Big Ten history to feature a No. 15 seed. Although the league expanded from 14 to 18 teams this offseason, the conference tournament only added one more team to the mix.

This is the first time Ohio State has ever been the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament. It’s also the first time that the No. 10 seed has played on the opening day of the tournament since the league expanded to 14 teams in 2015.

Washington (No. 18), Penn State (No. 17) and Nebraska (No. 16) become the first teams to not reach the Big Ten Tournament.

All-time, No. 10 seeds are 15-26. Only twice has a No. 10 seed won multiple games in the Big Ten Tournament, and on both occasions it made the title game. In 2008, Illinois won three straight before losing to No. 1 seed Wisconsin 61-48 and in 2023 Penn State did the same before losing to No. 1 seed Purdue.
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Big Ten Tournament Primer: Buckeyes hope to lock up NCAA Tournament bid this weekend​

Ohio State heads to the Big Ten tournament needing one or two wins to lock up an NCAA Tournament berth.​

The winning team will then face No. 7 seed Illinois (20-11, 12-8) in a second round game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. That game would be carried on Big Ten Network. That game would also stack up as a Quad 1 win under the NCAA's NET rankings. That would give OSU its seventh Quad 1 win. Currently, there are only 20 teams nationally with more Quad 1 wins than Ohio State.

OSU is currently 36th in the NET rankings. Teams in the top 50 are typically in play for an at-large berth, although it has been rare for a team to get such a berth with 15 losses. OSU would need five wins in five days to win the tournament and secure the Big Ten's automatic berth to the NCAA.

Iowa is 65th in the NET, while Illinois is ranked 15th. Wins in those two games could lift OSU into the low 30s and make the Buckeyes a prime candidate to get into The Big Dance.

There has been a precedent for a 15-loss team to receive an NCAA at-large bid. The maximum number of losses for an at-large bid currently sits at 15 (2019 Florida, 2018 Alabama, 2017 Vanderbilt). Over the last five NCAA Tournaments, every major conference team inside the top 40 in NET was selected for the tournament.

This is a similar scenario to last year, when Ohio State entered the Big Ten tournament at No. 55 in the NET rankings. The Buckeyes defeated Iowa in a second round game and lost to Illinois in a quarterfinal. The thought was that OSU, which was 20-13 after that loss, came up one win shy of making the NCAA field.

Two years ago – when Chris Holtmann was the OSU coach and Diebler was an assistant – the Buckeyes became the first team to play in the Wednesday first round to advance to Saturday's semifinals.

Playing as the 13th seed in 2023, OSU took wins over No. 12 seed Wisconsin, No. 5 seed Iowa and No. 4 Michigan State to reach the semifinals. There, the Buckeyes lost to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Purdue 80-66. Current OSU junior Bruce Thornton starred in that tournament run.

Going in as the No. 5 seed in 2021, Ohio State went on a similar 3-1 run in the conference tournament before dropping a 91-88 decision to Illinois in the championship game.
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Speaking on Monday, OSU's Diebler was asked about the task that lies ahead for his Buckeyes in Indianapolis.

"We need to control what we can control and that's Wednesday's game," Diebler said. "Iowa is going to play their best ball of the year. We're anticipating that. We need to do the same. Our focus is right now is on Wednesday and that's it.

"We know this is a big game for all the obvious reasons. There's no hiding from that but we need to play well and, listen, I think we our resume is good. Certainly, we've had some opportunities where we could have enhanced it even more but our strength of schedule, the quality of wins, the Quad 1 wins we have, all of that stuff stacks up in a really really good way.

"So you know it's life on the bubble right? Every game's important, we know that, but you know there's also a Big Ten Tournament championship that somebody's going to win and we want to give our best shot at that, too. We've got to control what we can control and it starts with Wednesday."
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[ScriptOhio]