Thornton leads Ohio State against Iowa after 32-point performance

Audio By Carbonatix

Ohio State Buckeyes (17-10, 9-7 Big Ten) at Iowa Hawkeyes (19-8, 9-7 Big Ten)

Iowa City, Iowa; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Ohio State faces Iowa after Bruce Thornton scored 32 points in Ohio State's 66-60 loss to the Michigan State Spartans.

The Hawkeyes are 13-2 on their home court. Iowa is the top team in the Big Ten at limiting opponent scoring, allowing 65.1 points while holding opponents to 45.1% shooting.

The Buckeyes are 9-7 against Big Ten opponents. Ohio State is 2-3 in games decided by less than 4 points.

Iowa averages 76.0 points per game, 2.9 more points than the 73.1 Ohio State gives up. Ohio State has shot at a 48.8% rate from the field this season, 3.7 percentage points greater than the 45.1% shooting opponents of Iowa have averaged.

The matchup Wednesday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tavion Banks is averaging 10.7 points for the Hawkeyes. Bennett Stirtz is averaging 25.6 points over the last 10 games.

John Mobley Jr. is shooting 39.8% from beyond the arc with 2.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Buckeyes, while averaging 15.1 points. Thornton is shooting 51.8% and averaging 20.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Hawkeyes: 7-3, averaging 71.4 points, 25.4 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 5.7 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.2 points per game.

Buckeyes: 5-5, averaging 75.4 points, 26.2 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 5.0 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.9 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.