Iowa 85, Wisconsin 67: Badgers fall behind early and lack firepower or defense to rally

IOWA CITY, IOWA – So much for building momentum.

So much for stealing a road victory over an Iowa team that had suffered five Big Ten losses by double digits.

So much bad basketball.

Consider these numbers from Iowa’s 85-67 victory over Wisconsin on Tuesday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena:

UW missed its first nine shots, trailed by double digits before the second media timeout and never led.

Those lowlights came against an Iowa team that had trailed by at least 17 points in its previous seven games.

"Missing so many shots around the rim...we dug ourselves a hole right away," said UW coach Greg Gard, who was far more upset with his team's defense. "We allowed too much at the rim and made life too easy early for them. ...

"We were never able to establish our footing defensively. This group has not taken those steps where we need to take them consistently. ...

"We are not built offensively to make it a shootout."

Four days after steamrolling visiting Illinois, UW (10-11, 3-5 Big Ten) suffered its fourth loss in five games -- all on the road. 

BOX SCORE: Iowa 85, UW 67

Iowa (11-11, 2-7), coming off a 23-point home loss to Purdue, established control early and saw UW pull within four points late in the first half, but led by nine at the break and by as many as 22 points in the second half. 

"It's always great to get a 9-0 run to start the game," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "Defensively we were getting stops. We were able to play from ahead."

Junior guard-forward Khalil Iverson was terrific in the first half to keep UW within nine points.

With UW missing shot after shot in the lane and shooting just 38.7% in the opening half, Iverson contributed 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. 

"I was just trying to come out super-aggressive just to keep us within striking distance," Iverson said. "They came out on fire."

Iverson hit 6 of 8 shots in the opening half and his teammates combined to hit just 6 of 23. However, Iverson appeared to wear down in the second half. He made just 1 of 8 field-goal attempts after halftime and finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists

Ethan Happ missed his first four shots, got on the scoreboard with 7 minutes 7 seconds left in the opening half and finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. He had four turnovers and fouled out with 1:24 left.

Charlie Thomas struggled to defend the post but contributed 10 points and five rebounds. 

Brad Davison (2 of 10), Brevin Pritzl (2 of 8) and Nate Reuvers (1 of 7) combined to make just 5 of 25 shots. Pritzl, who hit just 1 of 6 three-pointers, fouled out with 2:29 left and UW down by 17.

Pritzl finished with five points, Davison with six and Reuvers with five.

UW hit just 4 of 18 three-pointers (22.2%) and 26 of 65 shots overall (40.0%).

Iowa, which shot 57.1% in the second half (16 of 28) and finished at 51.7% (31 of 60), won with solid shooting and balanced scoring.

Eight players scored in the opening half and five finished the game in double figures.

Sophomore forward Tyler Cook killed UW in the lane by hitting 8 of 13 shots and finished with 17 points and five rebounds. Guard Isaiah Moss hit 3 of 4 three-pointers and added 15 points.

Freshman forward Luka Garza contributed a double-double with 17 points and 16 rebounds. He hit 6 of 9 shots. Guard Jordan Bohannon added 13 points and 11 assists. Forward Cordell Pemsl added 11 points and seven rebounds. 

"Lack of consistency," Happ said when asked to identify the No. 1 issue hampering UW's defensive execution. "It stems (to) practice even, and that is including myself.

"There needs to be an approach every single possession, not just three possessions here and all of a sudden they go on a run."

UW's last real hope to stay in the game died in the final 1:20 of the first half and first 1:06 of the second half.

Reuvers hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:20 until halftime to pull UW within 32-28. Iowa responded with a three-pointer by Moss for a 35-28 lead with 54 seconds left. Davison then drove the right side of the lane but missed, and Moss hit a runner with 3 seconds left to give Iowa the 37-28 lead. 

Cook scored on dunks on Iowa's first two possessions after halftime and the lead was 41-28. Iowa's lead never fell below nine the rest of the way.

"No question that was critical," McCaffery said. 

Next up for UW? A trip to East Lansing to face No. 6 Michigan State (18-3, 6-2). UW has lost in its last 10 trips to the Breslin Center and last won there in 2004.