Ohio State @ Iowa Basketball Preview and Gamethread

What: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Iowa Hawkeyes

When: Saturday, January 7th; 3:00 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena; Iowa City, Iowa

Television: Big Ten Network

Hawkeyes' Record:10-6

Opposing Coverage: Black Heart Gold Pants

In his second season as head coach, Fran McCaffery has helmed an improvement effort in Iowa City that would make Tim Allen proud. The Hawkeyes are one win away from matching their win total of a year ago, 11, and already have a bigger victory on their résumé than they've had in years. Last Saturday, the Hawkeyes upset #11 Wisconsin on the road, 72-65, handing the Badgers their first home loss against an unranked opponent in 23 games.

Freshman forward Aaron White guided the upset bid with 18 points, fourteen of which came in the second half. The Strongsville native has provided punch off the bench, averaging a shade under 10 points per game, but the Hawkeye offense is really driven by senior guard Matt Gatens and sophomore combo forward Roy Devyn Marble. Aside from an elegant name, the 6''6, 194 lbs. Marble possesses a unique combination of size and length. He defended Wisconsin guard Jordan Taylor, and held the sharpshooter to a 36.8% field goal percentage.

Gatens is Iowa's best player and most consistent shooter. He averages about 14 points per game, makes 46% of his shots, and offers their only real 3-point threat.

Thad Matta and Chris Jent will likely build their entire offensive gameplan around Jared Sullinger, even more so than usual. Iowa lacks any credible defender that can match the big man, the closest being rail-thin forward Melsahn Basabe, and Ohio State should find great success pounding the low post. Iowa has a spotty record stopping perimeter shooters, as well, so they play right into the hands of both Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas.

McCaffery has done a tremendous job turning the Iowa ship around from the disastrous course Todd Lickliter had it on, but the Hawkeyes just aren't built to beat Ohio State. Their upset over Wisconsin should give pause to anyone who views this game as a sure victory, yet the differences between Ohio State and Wisconsin hardly need to be pointed out. One team has an All-American, dominant big man who can strike at the heart of Iowa's weakness, and the other simply does not.

• The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame recently released its list of 20 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, which goes to college basketball's best point guard. Aaron Craft survived the cut from 60 original members.
• While most were celebrating a new year, Craft was in Ohio State's videography room watching tape of his turnovers against Indiana with video coordinator Greg Paulus.
• Thad Matta thought that Ohio State played as well against Indiana as they have all season--in the opening minutes, at least. "That game the other night, I thought for the first 10 minutes we were playing as well as we’ve played all season," Matta said." But the lesson you learn there is you’ve got to play through adversity, and we didn’t do a good enough job doing that."
• Dick Vitale, brash wind-bag extraordinaire, has his list of leading candidates for Player Of The Year up at ESPN. Ranked third, Jared Sullinger trails Jeremy Lamb of Connecticut and Thomas Robinson of Kansas.
• Luke Winn shares an interesting data point at Sports Illustrated, which indicates that offenses may be growing aware of Craft's defensive tricks. The number of moving-screen offensive fouls Craft has drawn is in decline.