Iowa earns dose of encouragement while Ohio State sputters at start again

It's probably a little much to consider Iowa a Big Ten title contender based off one impressive 71-65 road win at No. 20 Ohio State to open conference play Tuesday, but the outcome is certainly an indication the Hawkeyes are dangerous no matter the venue.

Senior Aaron White, playing back in his home state possibly for the final time in his career, scored 18 points with nine rebounds and junior forward Jarrod Uthoff added 18 of his own to hand Buckeyes coach Thad Matta the first home loss to open Big Ten play in his career at Ohio State.

It has been tough to get a good read on this Iowa team this season. The Hawkeyes have battled and lost against the likes of Texas and Syracuse in the early going. They earned an impressive win on the road at North Carolina only to be swept by in-state foes Iowa State and Northern Iowa. And now they have bounced back to earn a second road win over a ranked opponent.

Maybe resilience will become the Hawkeyes' mantra as they battle over the next 21/2 months to become the first Iowa team to earn an NCAA tournament win since 2001. Obviously that is a long way off, but a strong performance against the Buckeyes is a sign of what this team might be capable of if it can find some consistency.

Ohio State was in danger of being blown out on its home court for a time early in the second half before it eventually clawed back and cut the Iowa lead to three. It's no surprise the Buckeyes made a run considering they have the best home record in college basketball since the start of the 2009-2010 season at 99-9.Still, the fact that Ohio State continues to fall behind by double-digits in the first half this season - it also happened against Louisville and North Carolina - has to be troubling Matta.

White and his teammates made 46 percent of their shots and outrebounded OSU to give themselves a nice start to the grind that is coming in what has been the toughest conference in the nation, based on RPI, in recent years.

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo

from Yahoo Sports http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/iowa-earns-dose-of-encouragement-while-ohio-state-sputters-at-start-again-214825857.html