Bruce Thornton: Wild, late game sequence shows Ohio State 'wanted it more' against Iowa
CHICAGO – In a game with 18 lead changes, Iowa was desperately trying to force one more.
With 20.8 seconds left, Payton Sandford had just hit two free throws to pull the Hawkeyes within two points of No. 13 seed Ohio State in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. As they had done with varied success throughout the game, the Hawkeyes deployed their full-court pressure to try and force a final turnover.
It nearly worked, but what transpired next defied most reasonable description and helped the Buckeyes (15-18) hold on for a 73-69 win Thursday afternoon at the United Center.
“It basically summed up the whole game,” Ohio State freshman Bruce Thornton said. “It was a back-and-forth game the whole game. For us to come out with that possession to show we just wanted it more.”
'We locked in, and at the end we got the win': How Ohio State knocked off Iowa
Running out of time to inbound the ball, Ohio State sixth-year senior forward Justice Sueing attempted to shovel it to senior guard Sean McNeil, but it rolled the length of his arm and, somehow, toward midcourt. With the ball loose, McNeil made a full-extension dive to try and corral it but only succeeded in pushing it even further up the court. Accelerating from the baseline, Sueing saw it, launched himself forward and got his hands on the ball as Iowa’s Filip Rebraca came diving in from midcourt.
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Somehow, Sueing wound up with the ball on his back and flipped it across his body to Thornton, who saw nothing but daylight ahead. But with the chance for a game-sealing layup, he lost his handle on the ball near the right block as Iowa’s Kris Murray sprinted in from behind for the attempted steal.
“When Sway passed me the ball, I was not going to hold,” Thornton said. “I was finna to go score it at the end of the day. I'm glad we fought and we got the possession. We locked in, and at the end we got the win.”
It got crazier. Murray was able to direct the ball back upcourt and toward Connor McCaffery, but he was running toward the baseline as well, and a diving Roddy Gayle helped deflect the ball back toward the baseline where it was again corralled by Murray, who fired it back toward midcourt in the hopes of finding a teammate.
Finally, with 11.5 seconds left, the referees whistled the play dead and called a kick ball, giving Ohio State possession. It proved to be just a pass out of bounds, and after the Buckeyes maintained possession Sueing was fouled to stop the clock with 9.4 seconds left.
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“Just two teams going for the ball,” Murray said. “Tough game. I mean, I'm not sure about the call at the end, but it just didn't go our way, I guess, and they got the ball back. I couldn't tell you exactly what happened. There was a lot of chaos going on.”
Sueing sunk both ends of the one and one, setting the final score.
“When it got to that loose ball that I had to dive on, I wasn't too sure who had the tie-up,” Sueing said. “So I kind of threw it to Bruce to kind of get that going.”
Seated directly to Sueing’s left, coach Chris Holtmann smiled and said, “I think I told you (who had the possession arrow) at the timeout.”
“I might have forgot,” Sueing said. “Hey, it worked out at the end. We were able to stay composed.”
The jovial back-and-forth between player and coach, the postgame smiles and the overall good vibes stood in stark contrast to much of what has transpired for the Buckeyes this season. Now, after losing 14 of 15 games, Ohio State has won four of its last five and has a shot at making history Friday. No team that has played on Wednesday of the Big Ten Tournament has ever advanced past the quarterfinal round, and the Buckeyes will get their shot against No. 4 seed Michigan State at approximately 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
In the span of 54 days, Ohio State won just one game. Now it has four in 12 days, three of which are against NCAA Tournament teams and two of which have come on successive days in the conference tournament.
The next 24 hours are ticketed for rest, ice baths and soft-tissue massages, Thornton said. Any hopes of continuing this season beyond Chicago rest with capturing the league’s auto-bid for the NCAA Tournament. Anything short of that will result in a sub-.500 record.
“Make sure you get your rest because yesterday was a quick turnaround,” Thornton said. “We got to lock into attention to details too for the Iowa game. Next game we've got to do the same thing, and I feel like we'll come out to win.”
Brice Sensabaugh sits out down stretch
He finished with 16 points on 8 of 14 shooting, but freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh wasn’t on the court for the final 3:17. He was subbed out with Ohio State ahead 64-61 and spent the remainder of the game watching from the end of the bench alongside athletic trainer Brad Watson.
“Brice just wasn’t feeling great,” Holtmann said. “That was the answer for that.”
Ohio State takes season series against Iowa
The Buckeyes close the season with a 2-1 record against the Hawkeyes, and they did it with widely varying defensive performances.
In the 93-77 win at Value City Arena on Jan. 21, Ohio State held Iowa to 108.7 points per 100 possessions. Thursday, it was 109.2 points per 100 possessions. The Hawkeyes are 2-11 when held to an adjusted offensive efficiency rating of 110 points or fewer, but Ohio State hasn’t exclusively held them in check.
In a 92-75 loss at Iowa City on Feb. 16, Ohio State allowed the Hawkeyes to finish at 138.9 points per 100 possessions. That was Iowa’s best offensive game of the season and the worst defensive performance for Ohio State in the history of KenPom.com, which dates back to the 2001-02 season.
“They're a really talented team,” Murray said of Ohio State. “We've kind of seen that all year. They've been in close games. They got a lot of talent, a lot of scoring. Guys could take over at any point in the game. They're tough to beat when they're hot and when they're playing together.”
Iowa is now 1-7 this season when being held to 70 points or fewer. Ohio State finished with a season-high 10 steals, its most since nabbing 12 against Indiana on March 14, 2019.
“They've got a lot of good shooters,” McNeil said. “So it was probably two things: One, we did a really good job contesting, making them hit tough shots, or at least forcing tough ones. I think they just missed a couple shots. Just wasn't their day, lucky for us.”
Justice Sueing’s big 3 late keeps Iowa at bay
Gayle was the late-game star for the Buckeyes, scoring all nine of his points in the final 6:02, tying the game twice, taking the lead on a 3-pointer and helping ice the final outcome with two free throws.
Sueing, who has struggled from the perimeter this season, had a critical shot as well. With Iowa within 64-63 and less than two minutes remaining, Sueing hit his second 3-pointer of the night when he sunk a deep one from the left wing with the shot clock winding down on what appeared to be a busted possession.
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“At the start of the second half, I was a little hesitant shooting the three, but my teammates were telling me I need to let that go regardless of how I was feeling,” Sueing said. “Bruce trusted me to hit that shot at the end of the game. So it's just trust and confidence and just trying to get the job done and come out with the win.”
Sueing entered the game shooting 24.1% (19 for 79) from deep but was 2 for 3 against the Hawkeyes and is 3 for 4 in the Big Ten Tournament.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State 'wanted it more' in Big Ten Tournament vs. Iowa
