IOWA 67 | NO. 16 OHIO STATE 62
Buckeyes go cold down stretch
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Terence Dials was the focal point of the offense at the start of the game. He was a forgotten man at the end.
The oversight might have cost the Ohio State men’s basketball team a third Big Ten road win, not to mention a share of first place in the conference.
Choosing to continually loft three-pointers instead of more patiently working the ball to their horse inside, the Buckeyes scored one point in the final 6½ minutes last night and lost 67-62 to an Iowa team that scored nine points in that span.
"I don’t know why (the ball) didn’t come in," Dials said after he scored two points in the second half in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and did not get a shot in the final seven minutes after attempting 14 to that point.
The win elevated unranked Iowa (16-5, 5-2) into a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten with Wisconsin, which lost yesterday, and Illinois and Michigan, which won. Indiana could make it a five-way tie with a win today at Minnesota.
Adam Haluska led the Hawkeyes with 18 points and Greg Brunner had 17 in the only regular-season meeting between the two teams.
Ron Lewis scored 19 points to lead No. 16-ranked Ohio State (14-3, 4-3), which fell a game behind the leaders and now has a quick turnaround before playing host to Florida A &M on Monday night.
Dials, the Buckeyes’ leading scorer and top percentage shooter in the Big Ten, had 16 points, but 14 of them came in the first 12½ minutes of the game.
Ohio State failed to make a field goal after a three-point basket by Lewis from the left corner gave the Buckeyes a 61-58 lead with 6:34 remaining. Their only point in the remaining time was a free throw by J.J. Sullinger with 33.4 seconds left.
After Lewis’ three, the Buckeyes came up empty on their next seven possessions. They missed five three-point shots while appearing to settle for them too quickly rather than being patient with the lead and working the ball to Dials or driving to the basket for fouls and free throws.
But coach Thad Matta said he did not have a problem with his players’ shot selection down the stretch. The Buckeyes had made 9 of 18 three-pointers before missing their last six.
"Those were wide-open shots," Matta said. "I’d take those shots again.
"It was very reminiscent of the Michigan State game. We couldn’t put the ball in the basket down the stretch."
The Buckeyes shot 32.9 percent, their worst in their two seasons under Matta, in a double-overtime loss to the Spartans on Jan. 15. They shot 35.1 percent last night, including 27.6 percent in the second half.
Iowa came into the game leading the Big Ten in field-goalpercentage defense, allowing opponents to make only 37.3 percent of their shots.
"It’s all about defense," coach Steve Alford said. "I challenged the guys the last seven minutes and they stepped up."
Even after coming up empty on seven straight possessions after Lewis’ three, the Buckeyes trailed only 63-61 when Sullinger went to the free throw line with 33.4 seconds left. Iowa had produced only a basket and three free throws in the preceding six minutes.
Sullinger missed the second free throw to leave the Buckeyes a point behind. But after Haluska’s two free throws gave Iowa a 65-62 lead with 25.4 seconds left, OSU had another chance to tie.
Matta called a timeout to set up what he later said was a final three-point shot. But the plan blew up when Lewis took his eyes off a pass from Jamar Butler and lost the ball out of bounds with 17.4 seconds left.
Jeff Horner made two free throws with 16.8 seconds left to account for the final margin.
"I just lost the ball," Lewis said. "I probably tried to make the play before I caught the ball."
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