No. 23 Ohio St. Upends Iowa, 72-66 – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 16, 2002
Box Score| Notes
By CHUCK SCHOFFNER
AP Sports Writer
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien saluted his counterpart for sending a message. Then he applauded his own team for playing through the emotion that message generated.
Boban Savovic scored 15 points and made two key late baskets as No. 23 Ohio State rallied twice to beat short-handed Iowa 72-66 Saturday.
Iowa gave the Buckeyes (18-5, 9-3 Big Ten) all they could handle even though Reggie Evans, the league’s top rebounder and his team’s No. 2 scorer, did not play, benched by coach Steve Alford for missing class.
Center Jared Reiner did not play because of a sprained ankle and leading scorer Luke Recker was in the locker room getting stitches when Ohio State was making its last run.
“I tip my hat to Steve Alford,” O’Brien said. “There was absolutely no question about the importance of this game to Iowa, and for him to demonstrate, I think, courage for standing by what he thinks is the right thing by not playing his best player is a credit to him.
“I guarantee you that was not an easy decision to make. That helped us tremendously.”
Evans is averaging 16.3 points and 11.5 rebounds. Recker, averaging 17.3, played only 18 minutes and scored just three points as Iowa (15-12, 4-9) lost its fourth straight.
“I hope the message is simple and clear,” Alford said. “If you are going to play in our Iowa basketball program, you are a student before an athlete. I thought that message had to be sent. I messed up by not sending it earlier.”
Ohio State’s veteran guards, Savovic, Brent Darby and Brian Brown, scored the Buckeyes’ final 12 points. Brown finished with 14 points, including three free throws after Iowa had cut the lead to 69-66 on three foul shots by Rod Thompson. Darby had 13 and Sean Connolly 10. “The guards on our team stepped up in a big way and made a couple of key shots to win the game,” Savovic said. “I think we had a little bit more experience than their guards, especially with Recker not playing that much.”
Recker left the game with 8:35 remaining after opening a gash over his right eye when he hit the floor diving for a loose ball. He needed 10 stitches and did not return until just 19.2 seconds remained.
Alford overhauled his lineup completely and did not start any of his regulars, going with a group that had a combined nine previous starts this season. It included Thompson, who had played the fewest minutes on the team but led the Hawkeyes with 15 points.
Brody Boyd scored 11 for Iowa and Duez Henderson 10.
Thompson got the crowd going by scoring the game’s first basket on a nice one-on-one move, and the Hawkeyes played off that emotion in building an 11-point lead in the first half.
“Our guys hung in with the emotion of this game. The place was rocking,” O’Brien said. “Certainly they were playing with their motors going. I thought our guys did well just being down by four at the half.”
Ohio State drew to 39-35 at halftime, used a 16-3 run to open a 51-44 lead midway through the second half, then fell behind 60-57 when Thompson’s baseline jumper finished a 10-1 Iowa run.
But the Buckeyes held Iowa scoreless for more than four minutes and regained the lead at 62-60 when Connolly posted up for a basket. Savovic followed with a 3-pointer and came through again after Ryan Hogan’s 3 drew Iowa to 65-63, grabbing a loose ball and hitting a 5-footer to make it 67-63 with 2:06 remaining.
Iowa had a chance to cut into the lead, but Pierre Pierce fumbled the ball out of bounds and Ohio State closed it out by making five of six free throws.
“You look at the guard play in the last four minutes,” Alford said. “They got every shot they wanted, we took bad shots. Ryan and Brody had bad spacing. Pierre took bad shots. I thought that was our immaturity.”
Ohio State responded to O’Brien’s halftime lecture by turning up its defense, holding Iowa to two field goals in the first 9{ minutes of the second half.
“He started yelling at us and saying we weren’t playing defense at all,” Savovic said. “I think we picked it up and came out more aggressive.”
