A crucial Big Ten tournament seed will be at stake when Ohio State and Iowa meet Wednesday night in Iowa City.
With four games left, the Hawkeyes (19-8, 9-7 Big Ten) hold the eighth spot over Ohio State (17-10, 9-7) on a tiebreaker. The top eight receive a double bye in the conference tournament, which ought to help a team make a deeper run and increases its chances of making the NCAA Tournament.
However, Iowa coach Ben McCollum claims he’s not focused on league standings, NET rankings or any other metrics.
“If we win the next game and then the next game and the next game and the next game, it’s going to give us a better chance to make the NCAA Tournament,” McCollum said. “I don’t even know where we’re at in the NET. I did when some people would tell me. I think once the season’s over, I’ll probably pay attention more just from a scheduling perspective.”
The Hawkeyes are No. 28 in the NET with a 3-7 record against Quad 1 opponents. The Buckeyes sit 37th in the NET, but they’re 0-9 against Quad 1 foes – the only team in the top 45 without such a win. However, they can bag their first against the Hawkeyes.
The Buckeyes are coming off a 66-60 loss to No. 13 Michigan State when they played without No. 2 scorer John Mobley Jr. (hand) and No. 3 scorer Devin Royal (illness).
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said Monday that Mobley remains out, but Royal will be available to relieve pressure on top scorer Bruce Thornton. The senior standout scored 32 points with four rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers in 40 minutes against the Spartans to become the second all-time scorer in program history.
Thornton (2,037 points) isn’t too far behind Dennis Hopson, who piled up 2,096 points from 1983-87, so it seems just a matter of time before Thornton becomes No. 1.
“He’s such a great player,” Diebler said. “The way he approaches a game, his discipline, all of that stuff is elite.
“He’s just trying to win and that’s the best part about it. He’s playing at a really high level right now. That’s what great players do this time of year, they step up.”
Iowa has a talented guard as well in Bennett Stirtz, who had 23 points in an 84-71 loss to Wisconsin. He has scored 20-plus points in nine of the past 10 games.
Stirtz (20.6 ppg) ranks third among all Big Ten scorers, two spots ahead of Thornton (20.4 ppg).
“He’s kind of the engine of the team,” Diebler said of Stirtz. “It’s impressive what he’s doing.”
