Payton Sandfort scored 17 points and Josh Dix added 16 to help 15th-seeded Iowa pull away in the second half for a 77-70 victory over 10th-seeded Ohio State in a first-round game of the Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis on Wednesday.

Iowa (17-15) plays seventh-seeded Illinois on Thursday. The Illini beat the Hawkeyes 81-61 on Feb. 25 in Iowa City.

Dix was 0-for-7 from the floor and did not score in an 82-65 loss to the Buckeyes in Columbus on Jan. 27, but he had nine points in the second half on Wednesday.

Brock Harding had 15 points and Pryce Sandfort 10 for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa used a 7-0 run to go ahead 68-61 with 3:46 to go, but the Buckeyes pulled to within 72-70 on a jumper by Bruce Thornton with 45 seconds left.

Harding then responded by nailing an open 3-pointer from the right side with 16 seconds left, and Payton Sandfort made two foul shots with seven seconds to go.

Thornton led the Buckeyes (17-15) with 24 points and nine assists, and Devin Royal added 17 points.

The Buckeyes entered the game projected as one of the last four teams making the 68-team NCAA Tournament field, and they likely needed a win to maintain their hope of being selected for the first time in three seasons.

Iowa must win four more games in four days to receive the automatic bid into the NCAA tourney that goes to the conference champion. The Hawkeyes had to defeat Nebraska on Sunday to qualify for the final spot in the Big Ten tournament.

The score was 37-37 at the half. Iowa overcame a cold start to forge a 37-34 lead before John Mobley Jr. hit off a 3-pointer off a pass by Micah Parrish with seven seconds left.

Iowa missed its first five shots and took nearly six minutes to get on the board, but it faced only a 6-0 deficit because the Buckeyes missed six of their first seven shots.

There were nine ties and 11 lead changes in the first half. Iowa ended up making 51.9 percent of its field goals but the Buckeyes had a big advantage from the foul line, making 10 of 13 compared to 3 for 3 by Iowa.

--Field Level Media