Iowa basketball (10-4, 1-2 Big Ten) suffered an eye-opening blowout defeat vs. Wisconsin (11-3, 1-2 Big Ten) on Friday night from the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
Iowa’s 116-85 loss saw the Badgers bury the Hawkeyes behind a 3-point barrage.
While Iowa only trailed 54-43 at halftime, the Badgers’ continuous onslaught from the 3-point line widened the lead to a point from which the Hawkeyes’ offense could not recover.
The Hawkeyes finished the game shooting 32-of-66 (48.6%) from the field, 9-of-24 (37.5%) from deep, and 12-for-18 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.
But, defensively, Iowa had no answers.
Before the focus shifts to the Hawkeyes’ Tuesday night matchup vs. Nebraska, here are three thoughts gathered from Iowa’s loss to Wisconsin.
Lack of rebounding led to Iowa’s demise
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Wisconsin’s ability to outrebound the Hawkeyes 37-21 by the end of the game greatly contributed to Iowa’s inability to recoup missed offensive opportunities.
Specifically, when it came to defensive rebounds, the Badgers collected 29 boards compared to the Hawkeyes’ 14, which forced Iowa’s offense into one-and-done possessions for much of the game.
With a conference as rugged and physical as the Big Ten, Iowa will certainly need to improve its rebounding to be of any threat to its opponents this season.
3-point avalanche
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Wisconsin caught fire from beyond the arc throughout Friday’s contest, hitting a program-record 21 3-point shots on 31 attempts (64.5%), with sophomore guard John Blackwell shooting 6-of-10 from long range en route to a 32-point performance.
While sometimes you have to “tip your cap” to an offense that gets hot, the inability to slow down the Badgers’ attack from beyond the arc eventually became nauseating as Wisconsin poured it on late in the game.
Iowa’s offense was effective
John Fisher/Getty Images
While it is difficult to say an offense played competitively in a 31-point loss, Iowa’s shooting performance was fairly decent, considering the team’s opportunities.
Leading the team in scoring was senior guard Drew Thelwell, who scored 25 points off 9-for-14 (64.3%) shooting from the floor, 3-for-5 (60%) from deep, and a perfect 4-for-4 night from the charity stripe.
Outside of Thelwell, Iowa got 40 points on 19-of-35 (54.3%) from the floor and 7-for-9 (77.8%) at the free-throw line from a combination of Pryce Sandfort, Brock Harding, Josh Dix, and Owen Freeman.
The only major downside to Iowa’s offensive performance was the game from Payton Sandfort, who finished with a season-low two points on 1-of-9 (11.1%) shooting and 0-for-5 from 3-point distance.
Even though the final score was ugly, Iowa’s offense played well in order to be competitive on most nights in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, Iowa could not match Wisconsin’s red-hot 3-point shooting that never cooled down.
Iowa’s next matchup will see the team return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on January 7 vs. Nebraska (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) with a scheduled tip-off for 7 p.m. CT and be broadcast on Peacock. As always, the game will be available on the airwaves through the Hawkeyes Radio Network.
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