Iowa vs. Ohio State Tactical Breakdown: 3 Ways Hawkeyes Can Beat Buckeyes

The Iowa Hawkeyes are fresh off a 75-64 victory over Maryland, a Terrapins team that had beaten them exactly one month prior.

Now, first year head coach Ben McCollum has his sights set on a second win in the B1G Tournament.

Iowa was stuck being the No. 9 seed while Ohio State landed at No. 8 meaning they earned a second bye, advancing straight to the third-round.

McCollum's squad took down the Buckeyes back on February 25, 74-57, but now all eyes are on the B1G Tournament where games are played at a neutral site and it's win or go home.

1. Avoid a Slow Start

Sleep well, Hawkeyes fans 😴

🔙 at it tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/cg9jXkf8jG
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 12, 2026

While the final score may not be any indicator, Iowa actually trailed Maryland by a point at halftime on March 11. Exactly 24 hours later they're scheduled to do battle with an OSU team that has had four full days of rest.

Iowa exploded in the second half and went on an unfathomable 21-0 run, something that helped propel them to their first win since they took down the Buckeyes on 2/25.

OSU could come out of the gates a bit slow and rusty, and that's something Iowa needs to take advantage of. The Buckeyes are a good team so they'll likely be prepared, but in the case they aren't Iowa simply has to take advantage.

2. Unleash Bennett Stirtz

It's not like Iowa has held Stirtz back, far from it, he's just had a few "down" games compared to what he was doing from February 1 to the 25th. In Iowa's last four games he's led the team in scoring just once, but the Hawkeyes having three different leading scorers in their last three is a good thing.

Stirtz led the way with 22 points against OSU the last time these two teams met. He's still one of the most dangerous players in the conference, and Iowa could easily coast to victory in this one if he's as dominant as he was towards the start of February.

3. Avoid a Shootout

Played for tomorrow. 👊 pic.twitter.com/Qippthexqf
— Iowa Men’s Basketball (@IowaHoops) March 11, 2026

Iowa has had great success against top teams when their defense takes center stage. That's far easier said than done, especially when playing back to back games, but OSU is averaging north of 80.0 points per game and that's not a total Iowa can be reaching on a consistent basis.

The Buckeyes allow 73.0 points per game while Iowa allows 65.8. Those numbers need to tilt in Iowa's favor as OSU could easily come out of the gates hot and knock down a ton of threes. Knowing Iowa played yesterday, they are going to want to turn great defense into offense and not have to rely on threes or a fast paced game to get the job done.

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