Payton Sandfort scored 17 points and Josh Dix added 16 to help 15-seed Iowa pull the road in the second half for a 77-70 victory over No. 10 Frö Ohio State in the first round in the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Iowa (17-15) plays no. 7 Illinois on Thursday. Illini beat Hawkeyes 81-61 on February 25.
Dix was 0 for 7 from the floor and did not make a loss of 82-65 to Buckeyes in Columbus on January 27, but he had nine points during the second half on Wednesday.
Brock Harding had 15 points and Pryce Sandfort 10 for Hawkeyes.
Iowa used a 7-0 driving to move on 68-61 with 3:46 to go, but Buckeyes went within 72-70 on a bracket of Bruce Thornton with 45 seconds left.
Harding then answered by nailing an open 3-point from the right side with 16 seconds left, and Payton Sandfort made two foul shots with seven seconds to go.
Thornton led Buckeyes (17-15) with 24 points, and Devin Royal added 17.
Buckeyes entered the game projected as one of the last four teams that made the 68 team’s NCAA tournament field, and they probably needed a victory to maintain their hope of being chosen for the first time in three seasons.
Iowa must win another four matches in four days to get the automatic bid for the NCAA tour that goes to the conference champion. Hawkeyes had to defeat Nebraska on Sunday to qualify for the last place in the Big Ten tournament.
The score was 37-37 in half. Iowa overcame a cold start to create a lead of 37-34 before John Mobley Jr. hit a 3-point from a pass by Micah Parrish with seven seconds left.
Iowa missed her first five shots and took almost six minutes to get on the board, but it only met a 6-0 deficit because Buckeyes missed six of its first seven shots.
There were nine bands and 11 lead changes during the first half. Iowa ended by making 51.9 percent of its field goals but Buckeyes had a great advantage from the Foul line, which made 10 out of 13 compared to 3 for 3 of Iowa.
-Field level media
