No. 9-seed Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Ben McCollum has come to the defense of senior guard Brendan Hausen following the team's 72-69 loss to the No. 8-seed Ohio State Buckeyes in Thursday's quarterfinal match in the Big Ten Tournament.

After a timeout with 7.2 seconds left in the second half and with the Hawkeyes behind by three points, Hausen received the inbound pass in the deep right corner and turned around for a tough 3-point attempt with a defender close by.

Hausen, however, missed his shot badly, as the ball hit the top of the backboard. Ohio State got the ball back with 4.8 seconds remaining and held on to win the game.

Hausen's decision to take such a crucial shot with several seconds left on the clock seemed just as horrible as the shot, but McCollum had an explanation for that.

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After the game, McCollum said that Hausen thought Ohio State was going to foul to impede Iowa, and that Hausen anticipated such a tactic and hoped he'd fish one for a chance to go to the free-throw line.

“Kind of, we knew we're gonna be able to get Bennett [Stirtz] the ball, and we knew they're gonna foul because they were screaming, and to be honest, I think they tried to foul him, McCollum said, via Tyler Tachman of the Des Moines Register.

“That's why he shot that, it looked worse than it actually was. You'll see the kid reach and kind of shove him, and so he shot it knowing that he was gonna get fouled. So, it was actually a pretty crafty move. It looked worse, you know, but looking back on it, it was a pretty vet move.”

Despite the loss, Iowa can be expected to dance in the NCAA Tournament.