COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The frustration is getting real for Iowa.

The eighth-ranked Hawkeyes continued their late-season swoon, blowing a six-point lead in the final minutes and falling 68-64 to Ohio State on Sunday in a Big Ten game in Value City Arena.

The loss dealt a serious blow to Iowa's hopes for its first Big Ten title since 1979. The Hawkeyes slipped to 20-8 overall and 11-5 in the Big Ten with their third consecutive loss and their fourth defeat in the last five games.

Iowa trails conference leader Indiana by two games going into a matchup between the two teams Tuesday night in Iowa City. The Hoosiers clinched a share of the title after the Hawkeyes' latest disappointing setback, which followed losses at Penn State and home to Wisconsin.

Afterward, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was visibly shaken, ending his postgame news conference after 82 seconds and leaving mid-question.

"Everything went wrong. We didn't execute, we didn't rebound, we didn't defend," he said.

McCaffery's brief comments summed up Iowa's day -- and the last few weeks, for that matter. Just a few weeks ago, the Hawkeyes were 10-1 in conference play, on top of the standings and up to No. 3 in the Associated Press rankings. Now, Iowa is trying to avoid a meltdown heading into the final week of the regular season and the postseason.

Asked where the team's confidence is after the string of losses, Iowa senior forward Jarrod Uthoff said, "I don't know."

Senior guard Mike Gesell tried to remain upbeat while the ship continues to list.

"We're still a good team," he said. "We'll be fine."

The Hawkeyes gave up a six-point lead in the final minutes but had the ball trailing 66-64 with seven seconds left for a final shot. However, they missed a chance to tie when Gesell's shot on a drive to the basket was swatted away by Ohio State sophomore forward Keita Bates-Diop.

McCaffery was not happy about the lack of a whistle.

"I don't know if he fouled me or not," Gesell said. "Every time you go to the basket in the Big Ten there is contact."

Bates-Diop recovered after Gesell drove around a high ball screen and used his wingspan to reach up to make the key block.

"Keita's block on the layup was a tremendous, extraordinary play," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.

Ohio State junior forward Marc Loving closed out the game with two free throws and led Ohio State with 25 points. Bates-Diop scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.

Sophomore guard Kam Williams struggled early but recovered and made two of the biggest shots in the game in the final minutes that propelled the Buckeyes into the lead.

Williams nailed a jumper from the top of the key to push the Buckeyes in front 63-62 with 2:04 remaining. He scored again, hitting a 3-pointer with 59.1 seconds left to extend Ohio State's edge to 66-62.

"I thought we played hard," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "We did a great job moving the basketball down the stretch. We found the open guys. Guys were where they were supposed to be. That was probably the difference."

Williams hit only 1 of 4 shots from 3-point range and 5 of 11 from the field, but his makes were critical down the stretch with the game on the line.

"I'm a pretty confident basketball player and I'm going to keep doing what I do," Williams said. "I just stayed confident in my ability and it worked out pretty well."

For the Buckeyes, the win kept alive their NCAA tournament at-large hopes. Ohio State (19-11, 11-6) won for the fourth time in five games by outscoring the Hawkeyes 12-2 in the final 3:50.

"This was a great win because a) we won the game, but b) how we had to win it and being down and fighting and scraping and clawing," Matta said. "We came together."

Uthoff and Gesell each finished with 16 points for Iowa and junior guard Peter Jok had 12. But Uthoff and Jok, the second and third leading scorers in Big Ten play at 18.8 points per game, combined to go 9 of 27 from the field.

Uthoff started to heat up early in the second half, scoring nine consecutive points in three minutes to give Iowa a 46-44 lead with 12:32 left.

The Hawkeyes extended the advantage to 58-52 when sophomore forward Dom Uhl hit a 3-pointer with 6:51 left. However, they couldn't shake the Buckeyes, who closed to 58-56 on a drive by Bates-Diop with 4:59 left.

Ohio State forced an Iowa shot-clock violation with 3:17 left trailing 62-58, and Loving hit a 3-pointer from the left corner out of a timeout to pull the Buckeyes within 62-61.

After Gesell failed to convert on a drive, Williams delivered his two pivotal baskets.

Iowa center Adam Woodbury then converted inside to make it 66-64 with 42 seconds left, but the Hawkeyes couldn't get any closer.

After Iowa forced Ohio State into 11 turnovers in the first half and three more coming out of halftime, the Buckeyes had only one turnover in the final 16 minutes and ended up knocking off a top-10 opponent at home as an unranked team for the first time since upsetting No. 1 Illinois in 2005.

"I feel like today we showed a great amount of toughness," Loving said. "Hats off to Iowa. They made us turn the ball over in the first half. It's hard to stay in the game when you have that (many) turnovers."

NOTES: Iowa had won the previous two meetings with Ohio State in Columbus. ... The Hawkeyes were coming off one of their worst performances of the season in a loss Wednesday against Wisconsin, when they shot 32.7 percent from the field and scored just 59 points, both season lows. Iowa also had 14 turnovers in its only home defeat to date. ... Ohio State was without sophomore F Jae'Sean Tate for the second consecutive game. He underwent season-ending shoulder surgery on Friday. Tate's replacement, freshman F Mickey Mitchell, failed to score in 21 minutes on Wednesday in the Buckeyes' 81-62 loss to Michigan State, and he finished with six points Sunday.