Ohio State clicking, follows Bruce Thornton into Iowa rematch

Not himself recently, Iowa is banking on Bennett Stirtz to find his March magic.

Stirtz scored 17 points with eight assists and six rebounds for the Hawkeyes on Wednesday, including 13 points in the second half, to send Iowa (21-11) to a third-round Big Ten tournament matchup with eighth-seeded Ohio State (20-11) on Thursday in Chicago.

The Big Ten's third-leading scorer in the regular season (20.2 points per game), Stirtz caught fire against Maryland after freshman Cooper Koch ignited the perimeter shooting for the Hawkeyes.