Ohio State (11-14 SU, 8-17 ATS) travels to Iowa State to take on the Hawkeyes (16-9 SU, 14-11 ATS) on Thursday night at 9pmET from Caver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Buckeyes won the first meeting this season 93-77 as a 3-point favorite at home. After losing six straight, OSU is now 3-11 in the Big 10, while Iowa is tired with Maryland, Illinois, and Michigan State for fourth place.
The Buckeyes had lost five straight games and 10 of 11 games, before facing Michigan State on Sunday, so you'd think things couldn't get worse-but they did. The Buckeyes were a four-point favorite against the Spartans, but wound up losing 62-41. OSU has now lost six straight for the first time in 25 years. Ohio State shot just 28% from the field and 21% (6-of-29) from beyond the arc. Sean McNeill led the Buckeyes with 10 points, but shot just 4-of-13 from the field.
“Their defense was stifling today, certainly our offense can be blamed for sure, but give them credit,” head coach Holtmann said after the game to 247sports. “They're playing at a much slower pace this year and I just don't think we handled that very well.”
Brice Sensabaugh leads the Buckeyes with 16.4 points per game with 5.2 rebounds on 47.9% shooting (43% 3pt). Justice Seuing adds 12.4 points and 5.0 rebounds on 44 .4% shooting.
So what are the issues with the Buckeyes? They shoot just 42.2% from the field to rank 12th in the Big 10 and allow teams to shoot 43.5% from the field (7th). They rank 14th and last in assist/turnover ratio (0.87) and 10th in free throw shooting (70.6%). They also rank last in assists at 9.36 per game so passing has been an issue thus far.
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