Ohio State 90, Iowa 78: NIT Incoming

MINNEAPOLIS -- Going into Thursday night's matchup with Ohio State, Iowa knew it would likely have to win at least two games in the Big Ten Tournament to earn a bid in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Hawkeyes fell to the Buckeyes, 90-78 in the Target Center. With the loss, Iowa finishes the regular season with an 18-14 (10-10 Big Ten) record.

Here are three takeaways from the loss.

Payton Sandfort has clearly been one of the most vocal leaders on this year's team, and his desire to win showed through the difficulty that was Thursday night. Though he shot just 5-13 from the field, he did finish with a team-leading 19 points.

In the first half, he put up nine of Iowa's first 15 points, and then he got called for his second foul with 5:33 left. He sat until halftime.

"It hurt him. It hurt us," Fran McCaffery said postgame. "I think it was really hard for him because he didn't think he fouled. I think he was trying very hard not to foul there. So I think it was a combination of frustration and knowing that we needed him. But he just keeps coming. He's really impressive. Just couldn't be more proud of him."

Despite being sent to the bench and the frustration that came with it, Sandfort returned in the second half and did as much as he could to get the team back in it. In the first 3:10 of the half, he buried two three-pointers to keep the lead to single digits.

"I thought [his performance] was particularly impressive considering how he was being guarded," McCaffery added. "So I'm really proud of him."

Sandfort was largely neutralized for the rest of the game, and the Ohio State lead stuck to eight or more for the rest of the contest. Sandfort's motor and focus remained as high as ever.

"He's the best leader I've played with," freshman center Owen Freeman said. "He wanted it more than anybody and you could see it out there on the court. We weren't able to have his back, and that hurts. But we have his back going forward."

"Payton is a competitor," Patrick McCaffery added. "He's been incredibly competitive the whole year. That's how he is, that's who he is. I wouldn't expect anything less from him."

Though his team gave him credit for the way he played, Sandfort was more focused on the rest of the squad following the game.

"We were all trying to give everything we have," he said. "Sometimes that's just the way it goes, but we fought the whole year. We continued to fight the whole game, and we never really gave up. That's all you can ask for."

The Hawkeyes' perimeter defense was never stellar Thursday, but the first half was particularly damaging. Ohio State shot 8-11 from deep in the first half, and Iowa defenders were repeatedly beaten off the dribble for shots around the rim.

"I would just say we didn't give them enough pressure," Tony Perkins said. "It was comfortable, you know. They got great players on their team, and we let them get comfortable shots, and let their best players get shots that they hit."

McCaffery added that there were some schematic issues and matchup problems that allowed OSU to get such good looks from deep.

"We had a couple of mix-ups on out of bounds under, but the hard thing with this team is they have multiple three-pointer shooters," he said. "We did a good job on (Jamison) Battle, but then (Scotty) Middleton gets free, (Taison) Chatman hits one. (Bruce) Thornton's a handful. He hit a couple. You're more worried about him penetrating, with his pullup game and creating. He hit a couple early."

"So, at some point you've got to give the other team credit and not say, 'Wow, we should have done this or he didn't do that,' and start pointing fingers. Sometimes you just tip your hat to them."

Despite the Buckeyes' outlandishly hot shooting from deep in the first half, Iowa trailed by just five at the break: 43-38. The Buckeyes only opened up the lead to double-digits by taking advantage of missed opportunities -- and missed shots -- by the Hawkeyes.

"We had some opportunities there," Freeman said. "We weren't able to get close and get it over that hump."

Iowa couldn't take full advantage of scoring opportunities anywhere on the court in the second half — including the charity stripe. Over the final 20 minutes, Iowa shot just 12-36 (33%) from the floor, 3-12 (25%) from three and 13-19 (68%) from the free-throw line.

"We missed a lot of free throws," Patrick said. "I don't know what our numbers are off the top of my head*, but we are a pretty good free throw shooting team. So, that's disappointing."

*Even after Thursday's showing, Iowa's 77.8% free-throw shooting ranks 16th-best in the nation.

Patrick added that the boards were another spot that the Hawkeyes struggled.

"I think there were some crucial offensive rebounds; I know I let up one and I know Josh (Dix) got called for a foul that was questionable," he said. "They got offensive rebounds where we'd force misses, and then they'd get it and score right away. That's obviously tough."

With the loss, the Hawkeyes have more-or-less sealed their fate, as they'll likely play in the NIT as opposed to the NCAA Tournament. The disappointment was palpable in the locker room postgame.

"Obviously, it's disappointing and frustrating," Valparaiso transfer, Ben Krikke -- who has never played in the NCAA Tournament or NIT -- said. "It makes me emotional just thinking about not getting to what our original goal was, and that hurts."

"It's tough, man," Sandfort added. "It's been a long year, and I think the hardest part is that some of these guys won't be able to go live out there dreams. That's hard for me. I love everybody in here, and that's all I wanted the whole year -- for everybody to get what they dreamed of and what they worked for. It's not how life works sometimes. I'm just happy I got to be a part of this team."

Though the loss was difficult, each player and coach that spoke emphasized that they're glad they'll have the opportunity to keep playing.

"There's still more basketball to be played, and I'm grateful for that," Krikke said. "I think the other guys are, too. We need some time to kind of digest this one, but there's basketball to be played. We'll go out there and compete. We'll attack practices and games like we have all year."

"It doesn't matter what tournament we're in or where we play at," Freeman added. "The chance to play is just a blessing. We're going to come together and play Iowa basketball moving forward."

Selections for the NIT will be announced on Sunday, March 17 at 8:30 pm CT on ESPN2.