Jamison Battle: Ohio State felt urgency, not pressure, in Big Ten Tournament win vs Iowa
MINNEAPOLIS – The stakes were the same for both sides when the ball was tipped Thursday evening inside the Target Center.
In order for Ohio State or Iowa to have any realistic hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament, it was going to have to score the most points in this second-round Big Ten Tournament matchup. A four-month season with 31 games had led to this make-or-break moment for both the Buckeyes and the Hawkeyes, who arrived in Minneapolis perched at varying points on the March Madness bubble.
One second shy of four minutes in, Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery had to burn a timeout to stop the bleeding. Ohio State, the No. 10 seed, had raced out to a 10-2 lead on the seventh-seeded Hawkeyes, and Iowa needed a second to collect itself.
Ohio State never allowed it. Needing a win against Iowa to keep their late-season NCAA Tournament surge alive, the Buckeyes pushed their lead as high as 14 points and never trailed in a 90-78 win that sets up another must-win game Friday night against No. 2 seed Illinois. Fifth-year forward Jamison Battle, who scored all of his game-high 23 points after halftime, said the key was not focusing on the word pressure.
“We’re just focused on ourselves,” he said. “We’ve got to take care of what we’ve got to take care of, and obviously there’s a sense of urgency but it’s not pressure, I wouldn’t say. It’s just going out here and playing our game.”
That’s meant something different lately. One month to the day that coach Chris Holtmann was fired, Ohio State has gone from Big Ten afterthought to rising NCAA Tournament bubble team. The Buckeyes took down No. 2 Purdue in the first game with interim coach Jake Diebler at the helm and have added road wins against Michigan State and Rutgers, home wins against Nebraska and Michigan and now this.
Ohio State’s sixth win in seven games under Diebler was seen firsthand by retiring athletic director Gene Smith and incoming replacement Ross Bjork. Before Diebler made his way into the locker room to celebrate with his players, he was embraced first by Bjork and then wrapped in a bear hug by Smith, who clapped him on the back and told him, ‘Love you, brother.”
Then it was time to celebrate, as Battle placed the Ohio State sticker on the Big Ten Tournament bracket affixed to the wall before leading his teammates in their traditional postgame chanting and singing. The vibe reflected the same one the Buckeyes had displayed on the court throughout the evening, one of a team embracing the opportunity at hand without getting bogged down by it.
“It goes back to what Diebler preaches, which is family,” Gayle, who had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, said. “I feel like we were the more connected and together team. We knew they had the same stakes, it was just about whether we wanted it more than them or not.”
The pressure, real or imagined, was a two-way sword. Iowa’s Tony Perkins said the Hawkeyes didn’t pressure the Buckeyes enough in the early going as Ohio State hit four of its first eight shots and went on to sink its first five 3-point attempts. Teammate Payton Sandfort, who led Iowa with 19 points, said that created too much of a deficit to overcome.
“We let them get way too comfortable early, and players at this level, if you let them get comfortable, they'll take advantage of that,” he said. “If we let them do that, I think it's easy. Some were open, some were contested, but you let them get comfortable, that's what happens.”
The Buckeyes finished 11 for 20 from deep, their best 3-point effort against a Big Ten team this season. Six Ohio State players made at least one 3 with sophomore Bruce Thornton and freshman Scotty Middleton each making three.
The shooting was one thing. The ability to lead the game wire to wire, and by multiple possessions for the final 16:21, was more than just hot shooting.
“Great leadership. Mature group. And I think we’ve all just bought into playing with great urgency and staying aggressive,” Diebler said when asked why Ohio State handled the moment the way it did.
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That’ll get tested anew Thursday by an Illinois team that went 6-2 to close the regular season. It’s a tight turnaround for the Buckeyes, who played nine guys for at least 11 minutes apiece, but one Gayle said they will be ready for.
“We’re not blind to what’s at stake for us and to be able to play in March, in the (NCAA) Tournament,” Gayle said. “This one, we had a chip on our shoulder. Many people counted us out plenty of times already so this one felt personal.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State embraces urgency in beating fellow bubble team Iowa
