The #16 Ohio State Buckeyes (14-2, 4-2)
vs.
The Iowa Hawkeyes (15-5, 4-2)
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Saturday, January 28 - 8:05 p.m.
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IOWA - Official Site of Iowa Athletics - It seems like I've been saying this an awful lot of late, but I don't generally write things down here unless I'm fairly certain they're true. Therefore, I have no problem saying it again: This is a critical game for the Buckeyes. As I'm sure everyone is aware, the Hawkeyes have charged into the deadlock that is second place in the Big Ten. There are currently five teams with a 4-2 conference record - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and us. Three of those teams (Indiana, Iowa and Illinois) appear only once on our schedule, and all of them are extremely talented, so any losses (such as the one in Bloomington) will go completely unavenged. This cannot happen again. Iowa, even with five losses, would likely leapfrog us in the national standings with a victory on Saturday. It's worth noting that the Hawkeyes have not lost a game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena since February of last year. Senior guard Jeff Horner, who missed four games in mid-December, is back and playing well. The rest of the team is picking up steam, and despite being handed some nasty losses by Wisconsin and Michigan State, this is a squad that has wins against N.C. State and Kentucky (on the road) to its credit. It's probably not reasonable to say that Iowa is on par skill-wise with some other of the Big Ten elite, but they're quick, smart, and very well coached. It will be up to the OSU coaching staff to identify the chinks in the Hawkeyes' armor and exploit them. Without superior strategy, this one's basically a coin flip. Here are the Hawkeyes...vs.
The Iowa Hawkeyes (15-5, 4-2)
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Saturday, January 28 - 8:05 p.m.
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#44 - Greg Brunner
#1 - Adam Haluska
Not to be left out of the discussion is #2, senior guard Jeff Horner (6-3, 185). Arguably the best pure point in the conference, Horner leads the pack in assists (6.6 per game), but still has the ability to drop 15-20 points on you without breaking a sweat. As mentioned above, he was hobbled earlier by ligament problems in his left knee, but has been back for seven games and seems to be fine. Physically, anyway. Horner's field goal percentage is as low as it's ever been (.328), and it's been that way all season. After a nice 7 for 11 performance in the season opener, he proceeded to go 25 for his next 83 before going down with the injury. While he's never been a crack shot (.386 for his career entering this season), he does show flashes of brilliance, and just seems to score no matter what. He's third on the team at 12.4 ppg, has had at least one three point field goal make in every game in which he's played this year, gets to the line a lot for a guard, and when he gets there, he's making them 82.8% of the time. I've been looking forward to the Horner/Butler face-off since November--here's hoping it works out in our favor.
One of the more improved players on the team is #34, senior center Erek Hansen (6-11, 220). He's still not expected to do much on offense (6.9 ppg), and he's still a little soft on the glass (4.2 rpg), but golly can he block some shots. The lanky Texas native has 65 blocks this season in just under 20 minutes per game, which puts him at 187 for his career. I don't know where that puts him in Iowa's record books, but he was already in fourth place coming in, so...yeah. Terence will need to be craftier than normal with his post moves, and you can bet cash money that he'll get swatted a couple times. Finishing out the starting five is #35, junior guard Mike Henderson (6-2, 190). As the off guard, Henderson is a legit scoring option. He's a bit of a unitasker, but as the fourth option, we can't let him be a factor. He's just an average defender, from what I understand, so hopefully Je'Kel will have some open looks and get back on track. Off the bench, we'll mainly see #23, senior forward Doug Thomas (6-8, 245), #11, freshman guard Tony Freeman (6-1, 185), and #5, sophomore forward Alex Thompson (6-9, 225). Thomas is the main concern here--picture a poor man's Marco Killingsworth. They'll see meaningful minutes one way or another, and limiting their production will go a long way toward keeping this Iowa team under our thumb.
Steve Alford has this team primed and ready to make a quantum leap in the conference. If they can pull out their 14th straight home win tomorrow, they'll have second place all to themselves and will very likely catapult to the high to mid-teens in the rankings. No point in playing the 'Who Beat Whom?' game. Indiana beat us, but lost to Iowa who got waxed by Michigan State who got dropped by Wisconsin who we beat not ten days ago. The Big Ten is chock full of good teams, and anyone within reason (meaning basically everyone except Penn State, Purdue and Northwestern) can beat anyone else on any given night. Someone mentioned that the handicappers just kind of gave a shrug on this one, and I'm afraid I'm right there with them. I think we have the edge on coaching, but it's in their house. So go ahead and call it. Heads or tails?
Projected starters:
Ohio State
F - Matt Sylvester
C - Terence Dials
G - J.J. Sullinger
G - Je'Kel Foster
G - Jamar Butler
Iowa
F - Greg Brunner
C - Erek Hansen
G - Adam Haluska
G - Mike Henderson
G - Jeff Horner
My prediction: OSU 82 - IOWA 81 (2OT)
Up next, Florida A&M...
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