The Iowa men’s basketball team is set to host Ohio State on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will tip off on ESPN2 at 8 p.m.

The two teams will face off in a rematch of the Buckeyes’ 93-77 win on Jan. 21. Ohio State blew out the Hawkeyes despite 22 points from Iowa forward Kris Murray.

Iowa stands 16-9 on the season, after winning four of its last five games to improve to 8-6 in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes’ sole loss over that span came at the hands of conference rival and then-No. 1 ranked Purdue in West Lafayette.

During the Jan. 21 matchup, five Ohio State players finished with double digits in the scoring column, and guard Isaac Likekele posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards.

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery was adamant at a media availability session on Feb. 14 that his squad must be solid against the Buckeyes defensively. Ohio State’s 93 points on Jan. 21 is the most the Hawkeyes have allowed this season.

“We have to be better than what we were up there, and give them credit,” McCaffery said. They have a lot of different guys that go off the dribble … So you’ve got to be able to hold your ground and then make decisions on your rotations and try not to get burned too badly on open threes.”

Ohio State freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh shot 10-of-12 from the field en route to a 27-point outburst for the Buckeyes the last time these two teams faced off.

“He’s one of the top freshmen in the league,” McCaffery said. “He’s really gifted offensively. He has a real keen sense of how to score, how to get his shot off, and he scores from all different locations by using his body.”

Sensabaugh is averaging 16.4 points per game this season on 47.9 percent shooting. His 27-point showing against Iowa is his career high.

Iowa forward Kris Murray said the Hawkeyes’ defense wasn’t up to par in Columbus.

“It was a really uncharacteristic game for us, especially on the defensive end,” Murray said. “They were a team that was struggling going into that game, and we let them get hot. Now they’re struggling again, but they’ve got a lot of talent, and that’s a dangerous team. We’ve got to be more prepared for them than we were previously.”

The Buckeyes shot 50 percent from behind the arc in the contest, knocking down eight triples. They have shot 35.6 percent from distance this season.

Ohio State also converted on 58.3 percent of its two-point attempts in the game. The Buckeyes scored 50 points in the paint.

“Our defensive intensity was not good last time,” Iowa guard Connor McCaffery said. “They were the aggressor in that game, so hopefully we can change that. We’ve got to guard the post better, we’ve got to get back in transition, but overall, we just need to be more locked in and engaged.”