Freshman Justin Ahrens, making just his second start, more than tripled his career high with 29 points to lead Ohio State to a 90-70 upset of No. 22 Iowa on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio.
Ahrens, whose previous high was nine points vs. Maryland on Saturday, shot 7 of 11 from the floor, including 6 for 10 on 3-point attempts, and made all nine free throws in his 30 minutes.
Kaleb Wesson added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Buckeyes (18-10, 8-9 Big Ten).
Joe Wieskamp had 17 points to lead Iowa (21-7, 10-7).
Ohio State pushed a three-point halftime lead to 56-44 on an Andre Wesson 3-pointer with 13:55 left in the game.
The Buckeyes later went on a 12-2 run for a 74-56 lead with 8:41 to play. Ahrens had nine points during the stretch with a pair of 3-pointers and three free throws after being fouled while attempting a trey.
Iowa was hampered in a comeback bid when coach Fran McCaffery and his son, Connor, were assessed technical fouls with 4:08 and 3:10, respectively, left in the game. Ahrens converted all four free throws.
Fran McCaffery later cursed out one of the officials after the game, according to multiple media reports.
Ohio State took a 36-33 halftime lead in a back-and-forth 20 minutes.
The Hawkeyes scored the first seven points of the game before Ohio State answered with nine in a row. The Buckeyes led 22-16, but Iowa tied it at 22 on a basket by Jordan Bohannon with 6:15 left in the half. Following a free throw by Ohio State's Kyle Young to make it 25-24 Ohio State, Iowa went on a 7-0 run for 31-25 lead with 3:47 to play in the half.
With the score tied at 33-33, Ohio State's C.J. Jackson canned a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to send the Buckeyes into the locker room with the advantage.
The Buckeyes made just 4 of 17 3-pointers (24 percent) in the first half, however.
Two of the three remaining games for the Buckeyes are against teams currently ranked. They play at No. 14 Purdue on Saturday and at Northwestern on March 6 before hosting 19th-ranked Wisconsin on March 10 to end the regular season.
Iowa has its home finale against Rutgers on Saturday before finishing at Wisconsin (March 7) and at Nebraska (March 10).
--Field Level Media
Iowa | Ohio St. | |
Joe Wieskamp 17 | Scoring | Justin Ahrens 29 |
Connor McCaffery 3 | Assists | C.J. Jackson 6 |
Tyler Cook 10 | Rebounds | Kaleb Wesson 11 |
Jordan Bohannon 4 | Free Throws Made | Justin Ahrens 9 |
Tyler Cook 2 | Steals | Kaleb Wesson 3 |
Connor McCaffery 1 | Blocks | Andre Wesson 2 |