Ohio State dominated the interior, and several costly mistakes in the final minutes piled up and contributed to Iowa's defeat.
CHICAGO - Michigan and Ohio State are two completely different basketball teams, but their most recent games against Iowa basketball felt like carbon copies of one another.
The Hawkeyes rallied from 10 down with five minutes left to narrowly lose to the Wolverines, and history repeated itself on Thursday.
The No. 8-seeded Buckeyes led by as many as 16 points in the second half of the opening game in the third round of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament, but the resurgent Hawkeyes wouldn't go down quietly.
Before any fan in the United Center could catch his or her breath, Iowa suddenly had a chance to send the game to overtime. But like the Michigan game on March 5, the Hawkeyes' game-tying triple fell agonizingly short.
"We had a good game plan. I didn't think we executed it to that level. I actually thought our offense was better than expected," head coach Ben McCollum said. "I think it was one point, two points per possession, which is quite a bit. They were, unfortunately, 1.24, which it's difficult to win that way."
Here are three observations from Iowa's loss:
Poor interior defense
Bruce Thornton was doing Bruce Thornton things, but the Hawkeyes lost this game because they had no answers for Ohio State in the paint. It's almost beating a dead horse at this point, but Iowa's lack of size showed up yet again on Thursday.
Cam Manyawu and Tavion Banks are good, but it's really hard for Iowa to get stops when both are in foul trouble. That's exactly what happened against the Buckeyes, who simply pulverized the Hawkeyes inside from that point on, going 11-for-13 at the rim en route to 36 points in the paint.
"Then in the second half, they got us on some down screens where we didn't have the matchup that we typically like. We switched when we shouldn't have switched, and just a few things like that," McCollum said. "Just some things where you just got to talk through some things, and we just didn't do that today."
Missed opportunities
Allowing Ohio State to make its money in the paint didn't help Iowa, but it shot itself in the foot with many miscues in the second half. While the Buckeyes were converting every look at the rim, the Hawkeyes went just 6-for-13 on at the cup, which again goes back to their lack of size.
Finishing at the rim was a problem, but there were two plays that could've shifted the game in Iowa's favor. Trailing 68-62 with just over three minutes to play, the Hawks had a 3-on-1 fast break opportunity, only to see Isaia Howard dribble the ball off his foot.
A bucket there could've easily broken Ohio State, but the difference in the game came in the contest's final minute. Iowa was down by just one and received a golden opportunity when the Buckeyes missed the front end of a one-and-one, but couldn't secure the rebound.
Ohio State then made two free throws, forcing the Hawkeyes to tie the game with a three instead of potentially winning the game with a two.
"I think the coaching staff said all they could. It starts with me. I've got to be a lot better and get the team going and be a leader," Bennett Stirtz said. "We've got a couple days, see where we play. Got to get a lot better in practice."
Folguerias gets going
Stirtz led Iowa with 17 points, but one of the biggest developments came late in the game. Alvaro Folgueiras was one of the Hawkeyes' prized acquisitions in the transfer portal, but it's been an up-and-down few weeks for him.
Folguerias' once-confident three point shot disappeared near the end of the regular season, but he knocked in a pair of triples in the second half of Thursday's game. Both came at crucial junctures when the Buckeyes were threatening to run away with the game.
The Robert Morris transfer finished the game with eight points, six rebounds, and three assists. It was a small sample size, but Folgueiras finding a rhythm again could pay off for this Iowa squad as it gears up for the NCAA tournament.
"I've said it many times, I don't I don't believe in confidence as much," Folgueiras said. "I wasn't hitting shots, but I wasn't refusing to shoot them because I work too much to be where I am right now."
Up Next
Iowa is likely going to hear its name called on Selection Sunday for the first time since 2023. To find out where and who the Hawkeyes will play in the NCAA tournament, tune in to the NCAA Selection Show. It airs at 5 p.m. CST on CBS.