IOWA EXTENDS OHIO STATE’S LOSING SKID
Luka Garza rushed through a national TV interview after No. 9 Iowa routed No. 4 Ohio State on Sunday because he couldn’t wait to start celebrating with teammates in the locker room.
Iowa 73
,No.4
Ohio St. 57
“They waited on me, and we had a little celebration,” Garza said after scoring 24 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in Iowa’s 73-57 win over the Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio. “It’s a huge win for our group, to be able to beat a team like that on their home floor. It’s impressive for us, and it’s huge going forward, especially with seeding in the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA Tournament.”
Joe Weiskamp added 19 points — including 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range — for the Hawkeyes (18-7, 12-6 Big Ten), who have won five of six with two games remaining in their regular season.
Iowa bounced back from a 79-57 loss Thursday to No. 3 Michigan.
“We’re an experienced group, we’re a resilient group,” Garza said. “And we know, we’ve had confidence all year that we can hang with the best of the best, and we know we can beat them. Unfortunately, we’ve had a couple performances that didn’t reflect how we good we are against those teams.”
E.J. Liddell had 15 points and Justice Sueing scored 10 for the Buckeyes (18-7, 12-7). Recently projected as a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed, they’ve lost three games in eight days.
After Liddell hit a jumper to open the game, the Buckeyes never led again.
Duane Washington Jr.’s 3pointer cut the Iowa lead to seven points with 3:29 left in the first half, but a 10-3 Iowa run made it 42-28 at the break. Garza had 15 points in the first half, and Weiskamp had 13 on 3-of-4 3-point shooting.
The Buckeyes mounted a 14-2 run to open the second half and got back within two with 16:49 left.
But a 3-pointer from Weiskamp and a couple of baskets in the paint by Garza got the Hawkeyes out of the danger zone and Ohio State couldn’t chip away.
“They clearly outplayed us, outperformed us, outcoached us,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “We’ve got to get back to work.”
Top 25
Butler 73, No. 8 Villanova 61: Chuck Harris scored 20 points and Jair Bolden added 15 to lead the Bulldogs (9-13, 811 Big East) to the upset. Butler has won two straight since snapping a three-game losing streak and has beaten the Wildcats (15-4, 10-3) in four of the last five meetings in Indianapolis.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds to lead Villanova, which had won 13 of its previous 15. Collin Gillespie had 14 points for the Wildcats, who were one of seven top-15 teams to lose this weekend.
No. 12 Houston 98, South Florida 52: Quentin Grimes scored 22 points, including 16 straight at one point, as the host Cougars (20-3, 13-3 American Athletic Conference) put the game away with a huge first-half run.
DeJon Jarreau added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Justin Gorham and Fabian White Jr. had 10 points apiece for Houston, which won its third straight and reached 20 wins for the sixth consecutive season. Xavier Castaneda scored 11 points for the Bulls (8-10, 4-8).
Mountain West
Utah State 87, Nevada 66: Neemias Queta scored 26 points with 13 rebounds and Justin Bean scored 17 with 13 boards as the Aggies (16-7, 13-4) routed the Wolfpack (14-9, 9-7). Queta and Bean alone had more than Nevada’s 24 total rebounds. Utah State finished with 47 rebounds and made 25 of 27 free throws.
Saturday’s late games
No. 1 Gonzaga 86, LMU 69: Corey Kispert made six 3pointers and finished with 24 points, and the Bulldogs (24-0, 15-0 WCC) remained the only unbeaten in the country. Gonzaga won its 51st straight home game to set a school record and finished off a perfect regular season. The Bulldogs have won 28 straight games dating to last season and are the first team to finish the regular season unbeaten since Kentucky in 2014-15.
Colorado 70, UCLA 61: McKinley Wright IV had 26 points, six assists and five rebounds, and the Buffaloes (19-7, 13-6 Pac-12) used a 15-1 run late to earn their third consecutive win. The Bruins (17-6, 13-4), who had a four-game win streak snapped, have a halfgame lead over USC atop the conference entering the final week of the regular season.