In a crowded and cluttered Big Ten — a conference which could put as many as 10 to 12 teams into the NCAA Tournament this season — every game matters. Every contest reshapes the Big Ten standings. Every game night not involving Nebraska or Northwestern is accompanied by a lot of pressure, partly because Big Ten teams are so inconsistent this season, and partly because of the home-and-road imbalance in the conference this year.
There is a lot to gain in victory, and a lot to lose in defeat. This is the law of the jungle in Big Ten basketball in 2020. When viewed through that prism, Monday’s game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena isn’t especially important for the Badgers. There is always “the next game,” which — for UW — will be a huge home game against Michigan State on Feb. 1 in the Kohl Center. Win or lose, Wisconsin will have to turn the page from this Iowa game and move forward. If you therefore want to say this Iowa contest isn’t THAT huge, I get it. If a team makes one game into a referendum on its season, losing the game could elicit a harsher and more damning verdict than is truly warranted.
The logic of that thought process — not putting too much stock in one game — is sound.
Yet: This Iowa game sure feels like a defining test for the Badgers this season. The particular convergence of circumstances makes it so.
Remember this basic truth about sports: Winning and losing are the bottom lines of competition, but HOW one wins and loses often leaves a mark. Losing when you play your best is tough, but ennobling and sometimes encouraging. Losing by playing poorly and without inspiration sends a very different message inside a locker room. Teams which get humiliated — as Wisconsin clearly was against Purdue on Friday — need to show in their next game that they are tougher than many think. Teams which endure embarrassing defeats need to answer the bell the next time out… and if they do, they often change the trajectory of their season for the better.
Embarrassments are never sought or coveted by teams, but WHEN embarrassments do occur, teams can derive more benefit from responding to them with a win than if the embarrassment had never occurred in the first place. A team which successfully responds to an embarrassment realizes how resilient it can be. Heading into February, imagine what a win in Iowa City can do for the Badgers.
Also consider this point: The source and center of Wisconsin’s utter humiliation against Purdue was the rebounding mismatch: 16-2 for Purdue on the offensive glass, 42-16 overall. Wisconsin got outworked.
Guess what? Iowa averages 12 offensive rebounds per game, with Luka Garza averaging 10 rebounds per contest. If Wisconsin stands up to Garza and the Hawkeyes on the boards, winning on the road in the process, the Badgers can credibly say that they can battle with anyone in the Big Ten, since Garza is quite reasonably the best player in the conference. (Illinois fans would say Ayo Dosunmu, but Garza certainly has a solid argument.)
Why is this game so huge? Yes, Wisconsin just got embarrassed by Purdue. Yes, Wisconsin can’t keep losing. Yes, Michigan State is next. Those are all important reasons why UW needs to prevail in Iowa City. Yet, the biggest reason is that for the first time since the Rutgers loss in December, Wisconsin’s toughness is on trial. Do we know how resolute, and flinty, and persistent this team is? I don’t think we do — not after the Purdue game.
Wisconsin isn’t merely trying to win a road game in the Big Ten on Monday night. It is trying to show how tough it is, three nights after getting punched in the mouth and not fighting back.
The Badgers have to fight AND win here. If they do, it resets their season. If they don’t, February will begin with the Badgers near the NCAA Tournament bubble, wondering if they truly have the right stuff this year.
Viewing this is a huge game doesn’t seem so irresponsible when framed in those terms.