Micah Parrish scores 18 as Ohio State routs Iowa

Micah Parrish had 18 points and Bruce Thornton 15 when Ohio State pulled away in the second half for a rare runaway victory, 82-65, over Iowa in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday.

Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. each had 12 points for the Buckeyes (12-8, 4-5 Big Ten), who outscored the Hawkeyes 52-39 over the final 20 minutes and led by as many as 25.

The five previous games for the Buckeyes were decided by one possession, including a double-overtime victory and an overtime loss. The three losses during the stretch were by a total of five points.

Any chance of an Iowa comeback from a four-point halftime deficit evaporated over a nearly six-minute stretch when the Buckeyes went on a 9-0 streak as part of 16-3 run, capped by a steal and bucket by Sean Stewart to make it 50-32 with 12:52 left.

Drew Thelwell scored 20 and Owen Freeman 14 for the Hawkeyes (13-8, 4-6), who have lost four of five. They were leading the Big Ten at 86.8 points per game.

Ohio State used a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 28-18 with 4:30 left in the first half and held on for a 30-26 halftime lead behind seven points apiece for Parrish and Mobley.

The Buckeyes limited the Hawkeyes to just two fast-break points in the first half. Another area that troubled the Hawkeyes was their 3-point shooting, missing their first four and knocking down only three of 14 (21.4 percent) by the break.

Iowa led the Big Ten with 39.1 percent on 3-pointers but were 7 of 25 for the game.

Thelwell, the Morehead State transfer who surpassed 1,000 career points (1,004) in the previous game against Penn State, led the Hawkeyes with 11 points at the half.

The victory gave Ohio State an 86-85 lead in the series. With the 17-point Buckeye victory, Iowa saw its all-time point margin of victory between the teams reduced to a mere nine points.

--Field Level Media