Iowa will face Ohio State in a men’s basketball game on Wednesday, February 25, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The game is set to begin at 8 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on BTN with Cory Provus and Jordan Taylor providing commentary. Radio coverage will be available through the Hawkeye Radio Network, featuring Gary Dolphin and Bobby Hansen.
Both teams enter the matchup with identical 9-7 records in Big Ten play and are tied for eighth place in the conference standings. The outcome of this game could have significant implications for Big Ten tournament seeding.
In recent meetings, Iowa has won three of the last four games against Ohio State played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The overall series between the two programs is tied at 86 wins each, dating back to their first meeting in 1915.
Iowa recently secured a notable win by defeating No. 9 Nebraska, marking its first home victory over a top-10 opponent since 2019. The team currently holds a record of 19 wins overall and nine in conference play as it seeks its first 20-win season since the 2021-22 campaign.
Senior guard Bennett Stirtz has been a key player for Iowa, scoring over 30 points three times this season and reaching at least 20 points in nine of his last ten games. His performance includes a career-high 36 points against Northwestern, which ties for fourth-most ever scored by a Hawkeye at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Stirtz is averaging 23.4 points per game during conference play and ranks second in the Big Ten for scoring in league-only games.
Stirtz has also received national recognition, being named to the Naismith Trophy College Player of the Year Late-Season Team, as well as being listed among candidates for both the Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 and Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 10 honors.
Iowa’s defense stands out this season, allowing an average of just 66.2 points per game—the lowest figure among Big Ten teams and ranking twelfth nationally. The team has held seven opponents to under sixty points so far this year.
Ohio State enters Wednesday’s contest with an overall record of 17-10 (9-7 Big Ten). Since January 20th, they have alternated between wins and losses. Their most recent result was a loss to Michigan State after previously defeating No. 24 Wisconsin.
The Buckeyes are led by senior guard Bruce Thornton who leads his team across several categories including scoring (20.4), rebounding (5.4), assists (3.9), and steals (1.3). Thornton recently surpassed the milestone of two thousand career points during Ohio State’s win over Wisconsin.
Other notable contributors include John Mobley Jr., who averages fifteen points per game but has missed recent contests due to injury; Devin Royal; and Christoph Tilly.
In their last outing, Iowa fell to Wisconsin by a score of eighty-four to seventy-one despite twenty-three points from Stirtz and double-digit contributions from Tate Sage, Alvaro Folgueiras, and Tavion Banks.
Head coach Ben McCollum has recorded nineteen victories so far in his first year leading Iowa—tying him for second-most wins by any first-year head coach in program history through twenty-seven games.
