Playing without its best player and hoping to avoid a fourth straight loss, Iowa was looking for a spark Saturday night.

The Hawkeyes found it in reserve guard Brady Ellingson.

The sophomore came off the bench to score 17 points as Iowa, playing without leading scorer Peter Jok, beat Ohio State 85-72 in Iowa City, Iowa.

Ellingson made 6 of 9 field-goal attempts and was 5 for 7 from 3-point range as Iowa shot 50 percent.

The Hawkeyes made a decisive 10-2 run to stretch their lead to 67-50 with 9:21 to go. The Buckeyes would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.

Ryan Kreiner tied his career high with 14 for Iowa, Tyler Cook added 13, and freshman Jordan Bohannon scored 12.

Ohio State center Trevor Thompson, who had a career-high 19 points in a 78-72 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday, was scoreless and fouled out with 6:43 to go.

Junior forward Jae'Sean Tate led the Buckeyes with 17 points.

Ellingson hit two 3-pointers during an 11-3 Iowa run that gave the Hawkeyes a 30-21 lead with 8:05 to go in the first half. Ellingson, who had scored 11 points in the previous seven games combined, had 11 in the first half.

Bohannon hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to give Iowa a 40-29 halftime lead.

Both teams started out cold. The Buckeyes, who shot 50 percent against Minnesota, missed 11 of their first 12 shots. Iowa started 1 of 6 and led 5-2 five minutes into the game.

The teams combined to make 14 of their next 16 shots from the field.

Iowa finished with a 40-33 rebounding advantage.