CHICAGO -- Iowa showed that the most effective way to deal with Ken Johnson is to get him out of the game.
With the Big Ten's career leader in blocked shots on the bench with foul problems, the Hawkeyes rallied and stunned No. 24 Ohio State 75-66 in the conference tournament quarterfinals Friday night.
"To go in the lane and get inside with him not on the floor, that's what we tried to do -- to get him in foul trouble and fortunately it worked for us," Iowa guard Dean Oliver said.
"It gave us confidence."
Johnson, a two-time Big Ten defensive player of the year, played just 16 minutes and scored 12 points.
He never did pick up his fifth foul but while he was on the bench after getting his fourth, Iowa went on a 17-5 second-half run to take control of the game.
The Hawkeyes (20-11), who trailed by 13 early in the second half, advanced to the semifinals against another big upset winner, Penn State. The Nittany Lions shocked No. 2 Michigan State 65-63 earlier Friday night at the United Center.
"If you can get the Big Ten's all-time shot blocker out of the way it opens up the paint," said Iowa coach Steve Alford, whose team outscored Ohio State 53-33 in the second half.
"We tried to drive him a little more and made him defend those drives."
The Hawkeyes, who had struggled offensively since losing Luke Recker to an injury 10 games ago, scored just six points in the paint in the first half, but had 16 from inside the lane in the second.
"We're a young team and I guess that's why you look at 22 in one half and 53 in another," Alford said. "I'm glad 53 was enough."
Glen Worley scored 18 points, and Oliver added 16 for Iowa.
Brian Brown led Ohio State with 18 in a foul-filled game that featured 31-of-45 free-throw shooting by the Hawkeyes and 27-of-39 by the Buckeyes.
"I'm disappointed in everybody's effort," Johnson said. "The free-throw situation definitely hurt us, but we didn't play well. I just knew I had to go out there and stay out of foul trouble and I didn't do that. I didn't play well."
Both Ohio State and Iowa won 20 games, and both Alford and Buckeyes coach Jim O'Brien say they've done enough to make the NCAA tournament.
"Hopefully, we got what we needed to get in," O'Brien said. "I'm just disappointed in the way we played tonight."
The third-seeded Buckeyes (20-10) built a 33-22 halftime lead with Johnson playing just eight minutes after picking up two fouls.
Johnson got his third foul in the first 30 seconds of the second half, but the Buckeyes still had a 13-point lead.
Johnson returned to hit four free throws but was assessed his fourth with 12:23 left when he got tangled up with Duez Henderson under the basket. Still, Ohio State led 42-35.
Then, with Johnson forced back to the bench, the sixth-seeded Hawkeyes went on their 17-5 run.
"When he picked up his fouls, that changed the complexion of everything," O'Brien said. "There were an awful lot of whistles."
The Hawkeyes finally tied it on Oliver's 3-pointer with 8:50 to go and then took their first lead as Oliver hit a pair of free throws with 7:29 left to make it 47-45.
When Reggie Evans banged inside for a three-point play, the Hawkeyes had a 53-47 lead. Johnson returned with 5:22 to go.
Evans went right at Johnson for an inside basket and then Henderson sank a 3-pointer to give the Hawkeyes a 58-48 lead.
Iowa put the game away by hitting 14 free throws in the final three minutes.
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