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Men's Basketball
Turner, Lighty Steal Comeback Win for OSU at Iowa
By Brandon Castel

IOWA CITY, Iowa – For the first 36 minutes it looked like it was going to be 2008 all over again for Ohio State Wednesday as they took on Iowa in front of a manufactured crowd of 12,132 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

Coming off a tough loss at West Virginia over the weekend, the Buckeyes (15-6, 5-3 Big Ten) were on the brink of falling to 1-6 on the road this season. They trailed the underdog Hawkeyes (8-13, 2-6) by seven points with just over eight minutes to play in the game.

David Lighty drives to the hoop against the Hawkeyes.
Photo by Jim Davidson

But David Lighty and Evan Turner combined for 20 points over the final 6:44 as the 20th-ranked Buckeyes rallied for a 65-57 win despite an unusually raucous crowd boosted by free admission for all Iowa students.

“We were very fortunate to get out of here with a win,” said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta, who watched his team score 20 points in the first half before putting up 45 in the second.

“I’m proud of the way we finished the game. We weren’t as ready as we needed to be playing a team like Iowa.”

The Buckeyes were stunned in this very same building two years ago when they shot 37 percent from the field, including 3-of-21 from behind the arc in a 53-48 loss to the Hawkeyes. It looked like they were on their way to a similar offensive performance in this game as they went 10-of-25 from the floor, 0-of-7 from behind the arc and 0-of-3 from the free throw line in the first half.

“I don’t know, maybe there’s voodoo or something in this building,” Lighty said after the game.

There certainly seemed to be some kind of hex on Turner in the first half. He scored only two points due to foul trouble while looking more like the player who went 0-for-5 from the field in the second half against WVU than the one being touted for National Player of the Year.

Evan Turner records a dunk late in the game to help secure the win for the Buckeyes.
Photo by Jim Davidson

But with the game on the line, and the season possibly on the brink, Turner looked more like the closer who took over the game at Purdue in the final minutes of OSU’s come-from-behind upset in West Lafayette. He finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 34 minutes.

“He was good down the stretch, wasn’t he,” said Iowa Head Coach Todd Lickliter, who watched Turner get inside his defense for two dunks, two layups and four foul shots over the final 10 minutes of the game.

With under two minutes left in the game and the Buckeyes having just taken a three-point lead, their first of the second half, Turner went up and intercepted Iowa’s inbound pass at center court before sprinting all the way to the basket for the left-handed jam that gave OSU a 55-50 lead with 1:39 to play.

“Dallas Lauderdale came up to me and said 'Get the steal if they throw it long,' and I said 'Give them a reason to throw it long,' and he did and I had to hold up to my part,” said Turner, who also ripped the ball from Matt Gatens for another run-out dunk that made it 63-55 with 20 seconds to play.

But this win was as much about Lighty as it was Turner. With his team struggling to hit shots in another tough road environment, the fourth-year junior pulled up and knocked down three shots from behind the arc in the second half. He scored 18 of his game-high 20 points down the stretch for the Buckeyes.

“You get in the zone and you get a little more confidence and the basket gets a little wider,” said Lighty, who went 7-of-11 from the floor while also grabbing eight rebounds in 40 minutes.

“Iowa tries to play the player and people pretty much play me to drive, so they played off me a little bit and I’ve been working hard in the gym after practice and before practice to get shots up and it’s just paying off.”

Iowa forward Eric May scored 18 points at the other end. He knocked down five of his team’s 10 three pointers, but the Hawkeyes could not come up with the big shots they needed down the stretch as they finished just 6-of-18 from behind the arc in the second half.

“When it was time to finish I think we got a little apprehensive,” Lickliter said.

“We turned it over a few too many times...at crucial times.”

Along with forcing 11 turnovers, the Buckeyes also out-rebounded Iowa 41-34 after losing the battle on the boards 17-16 in the first half. Turner led the team with 12 rebounds while Lighty and William Buford each grabbed eight. Jon Diebler had seven.

Up next the Buckeyes return home to face Minnesota Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS) at Value City Arena in Columbus.

Game Notes:

* The Buckeyes outscored Iowa 45-32 in the second half after being outscored 25-20 in the first half. 

* Ohio State is now 5-2 since Evan Turner returned from injury and 12-3 overall with Turner in the lineup this season. 

* The Buckeyes are now 2-5 on the road this season with wins at Purdue and Iowa.

* Jon Diebler saw his streak of 30-straight games with at least one 3-pointer come to end Wednesday. Diebler was 0-for-3 from behind the arc against Iowa and finished with six points in 37 minutes.

* Turner fell three assists shy of his third triple-double of the season. He finished the game with 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

* It was the ninth double-double of the season for Turner and the 20th of his career. It was also his third-straight double-double since returning from a back injury that cost him a month of the season.

* Dallas Lauderdale had a key block with just over two minutes to play in the game and finished with three blocks for the game to go with 10 points. He was 5-of-5 from the floor and 0-of-5 from the free throw line.

* With his five made baskets, Lauderdale is now 66-of-85 from the floor this season. His shooting percentage of 77.6 is tops in the Big Ten.

* OSU outscored Iowa 30-18 in the paint and 16-5 off turnovers. They committed only five turnovers in the game while dishing out 12 assists.

Box Score
Season Stats Year to Date
Photo Coverage

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