By Danielle Daniels
Bruce Thornton, Sean Stewart OSU M BKB Press Conference 1 27 2025 OSU 82 Iowa 65
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State backed up its biggest win of the year with another solid performance, stymieing Iowa on Monday night 82-65 inside Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes (12-8, 4-5) used a 20-4 run at the start of the second half to take full control of the game and rode the lead to a strong victory. Iowa (13-8, 4-6) came into the night as the No. 4 scoring offense in the country, averaging nearly 87 points per game, but the Hawkeyes were held to a season-low 65 points and a season-worst 39.3 percent shooting.
Fifth-year guard Micah Parrish led the Buckeyes again with 18 points to go along with six rebounds. Junior point guard Bruce Thornton had 15 points and tied his career-high with eight rebounds.
Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. each finished with 12 points while Royal added eight rebounds and Mobley Jr. dished out a career-high eight assists. Aaron Bradshaw made all four of his shot attempts to finish with nine points.
Sean Stewart’s game has grown over the last month, and continued his good play with six points, six rebounds, a career-high three steals and a season-high two blocks.
The Buckeyes shot 56.7 percent in the second half and would out-rebound Iowa 43-31.
The lead changed hands eight times in the first 11 minutes before a Mobley Jr. jumper sparked a 12-2 that gave the Buckeyes a 28-18 lead. The run was capped by a Royal three-pointer, his third in the last four games. Iowa then made back-to-back three-pointers, and the Buckeyes would head to the locker room with just a 30-26 lead.
After Iowa scored the first two points of the second half, the Buckeyes answered by scoring 20 of the next 24 points to shove the lead out to 50-32. Royal scored seven points during the run. Despite calling a pair of timeouts, Iowa wasn’t able to slow the Buckeyes’ pace as they extended the lead to as much as 25 points at 76-51 with less than five minutes to go. That was their largest lead in a Big Ten game this season and the largest since leading Green Bay by 35 points way back on Nov. 25.
Up Next
The Buckeyes will hit the road for the next two games as they will play at Penn State on Thursday night and at No. 18 Illinois on Sunday. Tip-off in State College on Thursday is set for 6:30 p.m.
COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
