Paul Vernon - AP

about 1 month ago: Iowa's Cully Payne, left, tries to pass around Ohio State's Evan Turner during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Columbus, Ohio, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

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The Iowa Hawkeyes came into Columbus hoping to mimic some of the success of their previous matchup with the Buckeyes, but discovered that they weren't up to the task as the Buckeyes walked away with a 68-58 win.  Evan Turner matched his career high in scoring with 32 points and even passed John Havlicek on the Ohio State all time scoring list.  Iowa did find some success early, but it clearly felt like it was only a matter of time before the Buckeyes took control.

The previous game between the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes had Iowa controlling the tempo in the game, slowing it down and forcing the Buckeyes to play a half-court style game.  That work extremely well for the Hawkeyes, and there was no reason to suspect that it was going to go any differently in this one.  Early in the game, Iowa succeeded in controlling the tempo with man defense and by using as much of the shot clock as they could on offense.  They also took advantage of OSU's relatively weak post play by consistently driving the lane early which, of course, started opening up some of the outside shooters.

The Buckeyes managed to secure a couple turnovers and convert them into fast break points, including one particularly pretty steal by Evan Turner (assisted by David Lighty's defense).  The steal lead to a fast break layup by William Buford off a great downlow pass from Turner and resulted in an and-one that Buford sank easily.  The Buckeyes defense was quite stout early and Iowa had some difficulty getting shots off inside with the Buckeyes blocking everything in the vicinity of the basket.

The games tempo felt different than the previous meeting.  This time around, with the Buckeyes defense forcing turnovers and steals - each leading to fast break opportunities - it felt like it was only a matter of time before the Bucks forced Iowa to play at a faster pace.  The unfortunate consequence of this was allowing Iowa's shooters to take advantage of their desperation.  Instead of being patient and driving it inside like they were trying to do earlier, the Hawkeyes began to settle with jacking three-pointers which were falling at a dangerous rate.

Lickliter made some adjustments, however, and began to settle his team down back into the game plan.  Thad Matta seemed to have a sixth-sense about the adjustments that Lickliter made because Matta made an adjustment of his own to start switching into a full-court press with several minutes left in the first half.  The sudden change in the Buckeye defensive look seemed to confuse the Hawkeyes a little.  Lickliter's change seemed to work better as Iowa began to close the gap that the Buckeyes had opened.

Iowa's adjustments were giving them plenty of momentum leading towards the half.  On a Buckeyes offensive possession, Cully Paine of Iowa made a great steal that lead to a huge fast break attempt that looked like it was going to give Iowa 2 free points.  David Lighty, however, wasn't going to have any of it as he hustled down the court and blocked the layup attempt.  Iowa maintained possession, but turned it over to Evan Turner who drove it down the court and found William Buford for a thunderous dunk that gave the Buckeyes all the momentum.  That was continued as Kyle Madsen hit his patented baseline 15-footer with the clock running out to give the Buckeyes a 5 point lead going into the half.

At the half, the game should have been entirely Iowa's.  The Hawkeyes were shooting 52.4% (11-21) from the floor and a ridiculous 80% (4-5) from three.  The Buckeyes, by comparison, were shooting 48% (12-25) and an abysmal 14.3% (1-7) respectively.  The difference in the game was the turnovers.  Iowa had 9 to Ohio State's 3, with 6 of those Iowa turnovers coming on Buckeye steals.  Also worthy of mentioning was the Buckeye's free throw shooting, where they went a gaudy 87.5% (7-8).  That even includes 2 free throws by Dallas Lauderdale who hit both of them.  Iowa on the other hand hit only 1-4 from the free throw line.

The complexion of the game didn't seem to change much coming out of the half, but the score definitely did.  Both teams continued to scrap, but the Iowa shooting definitely cooled off which allowed the Buckeyes to build the lead to 10 with 15 minutes left to play.  As the lead continued to grow, the Hawkeyes began to get consistently more desperate - the time when Evan Turner likes to shine.  Turner began to really take over the game, raining in several shots and setting up his teammates with a couple well timed assists.

One of the most annoying things about this Buckeye team is their inconsistency in hustling to the ball.  Some games everyone seems to be full go after the loose balls and rebounds.  Other games, everyone seems to be sluggish and uninterested.  Evan Turner is one of the few on the team who doesn't ever look sluggish about going after the ball, but David Lighty has started to really understand how to hustle.  As already mentioned earlier he had the great block late in the first half that came about because he hustled back on defense to beat the offender to the basket.  He also had a fantastic rebound in the second half where he almost jumped out of Value City arena to grab it in midair over everyone's heads.  He even looked like he was about to plant his feet onto the shoulders of the guy in front of him.

The Buckeyes managed to build a reasonably good lead during the course of the game.  With Dallas Lauderdale on the bench with 4 fouls, Iowa began to try to take advantage of the middle of the lane like they started doing at the beginning of the game.  The plan had limited success at first as the Buckeyes built on their already substantial lead, getting it up to 14 points with about ten minutes left on the clock.  Eventually, though, Iowa began to draw some fouls and hit a couple baskets and started to claw their way back in.

Evan Turner, as is his usual MO, wasn't having any of it.  Even with Iowa's Eric May having another big game, Turner refused to be outshined.  The Villain matched his career high in scoring with 32 points on 12-22 shooting and 8-11 free throws.  He also grabbed 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals to prove that he can do it all on the court.  There's no question right now who the best player in the Big Ten is, and he proves it every single night he's on the floor.

Iowa continued to fight to the bitter end, but the Buckeyes had an answer for every Iowa basket.  Despite getting the score down to a 9 point difference with 5 minutes left, the Buckeyes tightened their grip and began to squeeze the life out of the Hawkeyes.  The end of the game had a look not unlike the Penn State game from a couple games ago.  The Buckeyes let the other team hang around and then finally snatched it away in the last few minutes.  It's almost like the Bucks get a lot of pleasure out of giving the other team some hope and then dashing it to pieces.

The Hawkeyes tried to play the usual end-of-game strategy of fouling to extend the clock, but it ended up blowing up in their face.  The Buckeyes continued to get the ball into Evan Turner's hands and Iowa happily fouled him and sent him to the charity stripe.  Iowa could not make up the gap with Evan Turner and David Lighty's daggers from the free-throw line.  The Buckeyes secured the 10 point win despite Iowa's best efforts to make it otherwise.

Neither team shot particularly well in the second half, but the Buckeyes did a better job of it.  The Bucks hit 44.9% (22-49) for the game with a season low 15.4% from three (2-13).  Both of those three's came from Jon Diebler who was the only other Buckeye to hit double digits in scoring with 12.  Lighty and Buford both managed to score 9 points - most impressively was Lighty who scored all 9 on free throws, going 0-4 from the floor.  Iowa's scoring was a lot more balanced than the Bucks in this game with 4 players breaking double digits: Eric May with 16, Cully Payne and Aaron Fuller with 11, and Matt Gatens with 10.  The Hawkeyes shot 42.6% (20-47) from the floor and 40% (8-20) from three - much colder than their 80% for the first half.

The stat of the game had to be the turnovers.  Iowa committed 14 - though 8 of those were Buckeye steals - compared to Ohio State's 7.  Also worthy of mention were the personal fouls, of which Iowa had 22 and the Buckeyes committed only 14.  Take from that what you will - and keep in mind the fouling strategy at the end - but the officials were clearly inconsistent in this game calling plentiful fouls early in each half, and then fewer as the game went on.

The Buckeyes will next face the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington, Indiana on Wednesday, February 10^th at 6:30 pm Eastern Time.  You'll be able to watch that game on the Big Ten Network.