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Twitter reacts as Iowa avenges Ohio State loss, rolls Buckeyes

josh helmer
·5 min read
4

There were moments throughout the first half where Iowa fans had to be asking themselves why the Hawkeyes couldn’t figure out this Ohio State team that seemingly everyone else in the Big Ten had.

Fear not. By the time it was officially in the history books, Iowa (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) had avenged its Jan. 21 loss in Columbus and beaten Ohio State (11-15, 3-12 Big Ten) convincingly, 92-75.

A string of four made 3-pointers from four different Hawkeyes just before halftime meant Iowa closed the first half on a 12-0 run to take a 47-36 lead into intermission.

It started with 2:20 remaining in the first half when Connor McCaffery connected on the first. Then, Payton Sandfort hit a transition 3-pointer, Kris Murray added another trey off a second-chance opportunity and Tony Perkins closed the half with one of his own.

Iowa never let Ohio State recover from that point. Five different Hawkeyes finished in double figures scoring. That quintet was led by Tony Perkins’ 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting.

Kris Murray chipped in with 20 points and five rebounds, Ahron Ulis scored 12, and Filip Rebraca and Payton Sandfort each added 10 points. Patrick McCaffery also finished with nine points and five rebounds.

It was his brother Connor that had the night to remember, though. Connor McCaffery finished with seven points, but he dished out a career-high 13 assists and grabbed six rebounds as well.

“Yeah, I feel like there’s definitely times when you can kind of get into a zone as a passer just as like a shooter. You’re just seeing things, you’re seeing cutters. I credit my teammates as well, because if they’re not cutting, if they’re not running in transition, and especially if they’re not making shots, that doesn’t happen. But, tonight all those things were in unison and so I was pretty locked in,” McCaffery said.

In a game Iowa really needed to get to avoid a nasty blemish to its 2023 NCAA Tournament résumé, the Hawkeyes took care of business inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Social media was elated to see the Hawkeyes catch fire to close the first half and walk away with its ninth league win. Here were the best reactions to Iowa’s beatdown of the Buckeyes.

A moment of silence

Why do you torture us Houston-SMU and ESPN2?

Can't lose this one

An adjustment

Rebraca starts fast

Steal to slam

Perkins hurting Buckeye feelings

Early nerves

Stay tuned

What? No defense?

Reaction to the airball

Look at these splits

Went down too easy

Unanimous decision

Thanks for the reverse jinx, Eickholt

It begins

Torching

P3RKINS

4 straight 3's

Sharp-Shooter Sandfort

Take it away, Jon

And...

Kris Murray just out here messin' around

Not playing pretend, but...

Career-high

For the 7th time this season...

Hawks WIN

Story originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire