The Hyball is a weekly basketball column.

Can you be a giant killer if you, too, are potentially a giant?

If you still killed a giant, I say yes.

Iowa women's basketball taking out Ohio State earlier this week felt great. Yes, tOSU was down a starter, and yes, tOSU has since lost again, but you know who doesn't care?

It was a quality win, on the road, and, maybe most importantly, Iowa looked like the better team throughout (the Hawkeyes were also missing a starter, FWIW).

And sure, Ohio State's press gave them fits at times and it got a little scary, but Iowa had some tricks up its sleeve too. Had you heard of a triangle and two defense prior to that game? I had not.

Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano need no introduction, the immortal Kate Martin finished with a double double (13 points, 11 rebounds), and Hannah Stuelke continues to prove herself and really makes the case for more minutes.

I have no gracious ending, so here is a video of No. 1 Illinois losing to Ohio State in 2005, because seeing that arena always makes me think of that hilarious moment.

Matt Terwilliger fans, stand way up.

“To apologize for my absolutes is to apologize for my very existence.”

Ohio State 93, Iowa 77: Despite the L, decided to go the positive route with this game. Some stuff I liked:

- Tony Perkins' on ball defense

- Josh Dix justifying his minutes (2/3 from three)

- Kris Murray's shooting (9/19, 4-9 from three)

- Ahron Ulis doubling his season average (finished with 12 points)

But we lost by double digits, so let's hit one bad:

- Ohio State's second chance points (heavily expected a major offensive rebounding disparity, but they only edged Iowa, 12-10)

And end on a medium: the Buckeyes did not look like a 2-5 Big Ten team out there. They have at Indiana then home for Wisconsin next, so .500 is not off the table before the stretch run.

Michigan State 63, Iowa 61: This one hurt way worse. Usually, when Iowa loses, I think "We played worse/deserved to lose," but that was not at all the case here. Spent the majority of the game thinking "We are better," and the end result simply did not justify that. While I saw a few tweets of some questionable officiating, I liked Iowa's whistle in the first half and really think it came down to MSU hitting some low percentage shots; so you can kinda tip your cap while eye rolling at the same time. Freakin' Sparty.

1/29 - Iowa vs. Rutgers: I will be in IC this weekend (to watch the women's team on Saturday), but this one is definitely a little tempting to stay for on Sunday.

1/31 - Iowa vs. Northwestern: Was shocked to see the Wildcats in the Big Ten's Top 3 when they showed the standings yesterday. What the hell has happened to this conference?!

What's the worst free throw percentage you can think of from an individual player? Probably somewhere in the 40s or 50s, right? You're thinking maybe Shaq, Ben Wallace, DeAndre Jordan? Maybe someone else? Keep that number in your head before I now show you Michigan backup center Tarris Reed's.

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You ready?

21.9%!!!!!!!!!!11111111111

Don't get it twisted -- I love Tarris Reed's game and think he will be a wonderful player for Michigan (and already kind of is now, honestly), but that number is brutal. I've never seen anything like it. Think about the worst Rebrača misses, then multiply it by three.

Michigan, as a team, is currently at No. 259 in the country in free throw percentage (68.49), so Reed shouldn't feel all that bad anyway.

(Iowa is at No. 136 with 72.58% shooting, for some additional context.)

Using the rest of my time to implore you to give this year's Australian Open women's final a chance. Two absolute bashers of the ball (the Wimbledon champ vs. the Vegas favorite, who has never won a slam). It's going to be nuclear out there. YouTube does both 3 min and 8 min highlight packages, if that's more your bag -- and to that, I say fair enough.

K, gonna drive to Iowa now.

Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Find him on Twitter @bobbystompy or email at bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com.