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3/24 NCAA Tournament Recap: Iowa and OSU Fall Short

Recap all the Big Ten action on Sunday.

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Second Round-Houston vs Ohio State Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The 2019 NCAA Tournament continued on Sunday with the final games in this year’s Round of 32. Two Big Ten teams ended up falling short, as Iowa fell to Tennessee and Ohio State couldn’t pull off the upset against Houston.

Let’s take a look at what happened.

Game of the Day:

-No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers 83, No. 10 Iowa Hawkeyes 77 (OT)

What an absolutely insane game. By any measure, this one felt like an absolute rollercoaster ride from start to finish. Tennessee jumped out to a 25-point lead at one point in the game, but Iowa tied things in the second half. Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes didn’t have enough to get over the hump in the closing minutes and fell short in overtime.

For Iowa, it was a crushing loss. Not because it was unexpected, but because the team played so well in the second half. The Hawkeyes were magnificent down the stretch against a really good basketball team. It just wasn’t enough in light of Iowa’s rough start. All told, Iowa finished the season with a 23-12 overall record.

Moving forward, Iowa will now have to figure out how to replace Nicholas Baer and await an NBA decision from Tyler Cook. The roster projects to be pretty good heading into next season, but we’ll have to wait and see. Overall, Iowa finished with a pretty good bounce back season after a few rough years.

The Rest:

-No. 3 Houston Cougars 74, No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes 59

As mentioned in my Sunday preview, Buckeye fans should have went into this game with a light mood. Ohio State really had no business being in the game. Everything was gravy. The Buckeyes were projected by most to lose in the Round of 64 and had managed to pull off a significant upset. It would be even more of an uphill battle against Houston.

And generally speaking, that’s how it went. Houston was clearly the better team and had taken firm control by halftime. CJ Jackson had a solid game with 18 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Buckeyes to get a win. All told, Houston grabbed a 74-59 victory.

Ohio State will now head into the offseason with some major questions looming. Like Iowa, the team projects to have a lot returning. However, Jackson and Keshawn Woods will be gone, so Chris Holtmann and his staff will have to figure out some things. The Buckeyes finished with a 20-15 overall record.