Ohio State lost to Iowa in blowout fashion despite a hot start. Here’s what went wrong for the Buckeyes in Iowa City.

The Buckeyes are coming off a loss at Michigan State on Sunday afternoon and now look to pick up a key road victory against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Wednesday night. Luckily, Jake Diebler gets back two of his best offensive players, John Mobley and Devin Royal, from injury and illness, but will be without starting center Christoph Tilly for an undisclosed reason. Ohio State looks to pick up its second Quad One victory if it wants to keep its hopes of dancing in March alive.

John Mobley Jr’s presence was welcomed back early, as he nailed the first two three-point buckets of the game, both being from the Hawkeyes logo. This was followed by a Devin Royal slam dunk off an assist from Amare Bynum, who then went down and made two three-pointers of his own on back-to-back possessions, forcing a Ben McCollum timeout with the Buckeyes up 14-2.  

JOHN MOBLEY JR. FROM THE LOGO 🎯

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/j1MvEWbL6I

— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) February 26, 2026

Ohio State couldn’t catch a break on the offensive end after their 14-2 run early, but kept their tempo on the defensive end. Amare Bynum made a huge block, which was followed by a Puff Johnson steal that led to a jump ball. 

Iowa, known for its offensive game around Bennett Stirtiz, struck after the Hawkeye timeout and went on a 21-1 run, during which the Buckeyes did not have a field goal for 10 minutes of gametime. 

The Buckeyes finally ended their field goal drought after a corner three-pointer by Sophomore Taison Chatman. It was their first field goal since the 14-minute mark in the contest. It was then followed by another Hawkeye run, which made it a 28-3 run from the 14-minute mark to the 2-minute mark. This was the story of the half as the Hawkeyes finished the half on a 35-9 run to take a lead into the locker room 37-23.

Iowa started the second half off with a Bennett Stirtz three-pointer, which was followed by a Devin Royal jumper and an Ivan Njegovan three-pointer, his second three-point make of the season and the fourth in his college career. 

The story of the game was the offensive runs Iowa would go on; they went on a 9-0 run after two straight good Buckeye possessions, causing Jake Diebler to use his third timeout of the matchup at the 16-minute mark.  

Bruce Thornton scored his first points of the game at the 12-minute mark in the second half to help cut Iowa’s lead to 15. This was then followed by a Mobley three-pointer to cut the deficit to 14 at the under-twelve timeout. 

Iowa controlled this game from the 15-minute mark of the first half until the last sound of the buzzer. The Buckeyes couldn’t find an answer for the Hawkeye offense on the defensive side of the ball, nor could they answer with points of their own. 

The Buckeyes were unable to come out of Iowa City with a victory and will suffer back-to-back losses for the first time this season. Iowa shot 57% from the field, while Bruce Thornton played his worst all-around game of the season, as they fell to 17-11 and 9-8.  

Ohio State looks to bounce back Sunday at home against the Purdue Boilermakers as its quest for an NCAA Tournament bid continues.