Tag: Iowa Basketball

Three takeaways from Wisconsin’s 68-62 loss to Iowa

Wisconsin dropped a heartbreaker to Iowa on Tuesday night, falling 68-62. Here are our top three takeaways of the game for the Badgers.

Wisconsin dropped its second consecutive game on Tuesday, falling to No. 18 Iowa in a heartbreaking 68-62 decision. Here are our top three takeaways from the game for the Badgers.

Wisconsin doomed by a late-game meltdown

Jan 27, 2020; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Joe Toussaint (1) shoots the ball over Wisconsin Badgers guard D’Mitrik Trice (0) to take the lead late during the second half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The Badgers couldn’t have encountered much more adversity in this one.

They were already dealt a blow before the game even began with the announcement that their No. 2 scorer and arguably the team’s best player, Kobe King, did not travel with the team for personal reasons and appears to be mulling over his future with the program. When the ball actually rolled, Wisconsin started out ice-cold from the field and quickly started to get on the wrong end of the referee’s whistle. It was only due to their excellent defense that the Badgers were able to remain in the game.

Remarkably, Bucky had somehow managed to scrape together a 12-point lead by around the seven-minute mark in the second half thanks to a stretch of hot shooting to complement its solid play on the other end. What came next was an implosion of epic proportions.

Iowa proceeded to close the game on a 23-5 run that brought them victory as a result of some opportunistic shooting, a stifling 3/4 court press that shut down Wisconsin’s offense, and some help from the officials. They had not led since the first minutes of the game, but the Hawkeyes managed to take the lead again with just over a minute left in the game.

Regardless, the Badgers had a possession to go down and try to tie the game with about 30 seconds remaining. However, Brad Davison was dealt a devastating flagrant foul that effectively sealed the deal for Iowa. It was the story of the game for Wisconsin, who committed a season-high 28 fouls to Iowa’s 15. The Hawkeyes’ 25-32 clip from the free-throw line was the difference in this one.

For a program that has suffered plenty of late-game collapses over the last few years, this one may take the cake.

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Cruel irony visits Wisconsin in late collapse at Iowa

Wisconsin-Iowa instant reaction

If you have followed the Wisconsin Badgers all season long, you knew Monday night’s game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City was a huge moment for this team. Wisconsin had just been embarrassed by Purdue. The game was a disaster, and we made sure to say that.

Here is an excerpt from that story on Friday night:

The news is very bad for the Wisconsin Badgers not because they lost to the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday night in West Lafayette. Had Wisconsin played a 58-57 game and failed to make the last shot, the Badgers would have played a game largely in line with what we have seen the past few weeks. The limitations of the team would have persisted, but so would the strengths. We know Wisconsin has a relatively low ceiling, but the encouraging part of the past few weeks is that the Badgers had raised their floor.

*snip*

Friday against Purdue, the Badgers looked a lot like the weak team which had no clue on the road against ordinary opponents such as New Mexico, Richmond, and North Carolina State. Getting thrashed by Michigan State wasn’t an indication of erosion. Getting drubbed in a 19-point loss to a 10-9 Purdue team — in a game the Badgers once trailed by 28 — offers no guarantees, but it DOES carry the possibility that this team is in trouble heading to Iowa City for a game against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Monday.

We discussed the need for Wisconsin to fight and scratch and claw, to play with desperation and not get bullied in this Iowa game.

The Badgers definitely did that. They were tougher on the glass. They made this a physical game, the kind of game Iowa doesn’t like and, frankly, has never liked under Fran McCaffery. Iowa shot poorly because the Badgers got in the Hawkeyes’ chests and faces. Wisconsin played the tough defense we expected against Purdue, and which we generally expect every night UW takes the floor. It was precisely that 58-57 kind of game late in regulation, and Wisconsin came a little bit short.

Yet, Wisconsin didn’t need the moral victory here. It needed to WIN… and just before the game, it was announced that Kobe King would not play for personal and non-health-related reasons.

Tyler Wahl and the other players asked to play more minutes in King’s absence did a good job. This team played hard for Greg Gard. It showed so many of the good traits we hoped for and expected… but it wasn’t enough. More precisely, it wasn’t enough because King wasn’t there, and THAT is going to be the story which overshadows everything else.

The cruel irony of this loss is that Wisconsin did so many good things and yet suffered a loss in a game it had to win, which makes all the good things UW did very worthless. A team improved by miles from Friday against Purdue and yet watched its NCAA Tournament resume get worse, with Michigan State looming this Saturday.

That is the upside-down and very dark reality associated with the word “irony.” It is very cruel indeed.

Three Iowa players Badger fans need to know

Wisconsin heads to Iowa City to take on the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes. Badger fans should be sure to know these three opposing players.

After getting blown out in its last two road games, Wisconsin (12-8) will look to reverse that trend on Monday evening in Iowa City against No. 19 Iowa (14-5).

To put it mildly, that will not be an easy task.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena has a well-deserved reputation as one of the toughest places to win on the road in the country, and Fran McCaffery’s Hawkeyes are arguably the Big Ten’s hottest team at the moment, having won four straight and eight of their last ten. That stretch includes victories over No. 12 Maryland, No. 19 Michigan, and No. 24 Rutgers, all of which came in Iowa City.

While Iowa was expected to be a solid team this season, I’m not sure anyone thought they would be this good, especially once one of its top players, senior guard Jordan Bohannon, opted to shut down his season after playing in ten games to undergo hip surgery. The loss of Bohannon’s leadership and productivity (career scoring average of 12.3 points per game, 39.8 percent three-point shooter) could have been devastating.

Instead, the Hawkeyes have managed to thrive in his absence, thanks in large part to the emergence of one of his teammates into a full-fledged superstar and a few others stepping up to the plate and taking on larger roles.

With that said, here are three players in Iowa’s rotation who Badger fans should make sure to keep an eye on in this matchup.

Luka Garza – Center

Current stats: 23.2 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 56.1 FG%, 38.5 3P%

Jan 4, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes center Luka Garza (55) shoots the ball over Penn State Nittany Lions forward John Harrar (21) during the first half at The Palestra. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Garza was certainly one of the Big Ten’s better big men throughout his first two years at Iowa, but the 6-11, 260-pounder from Washington D.C. has taken a quantum leap in his third season.

The junior center’s production has absolutely exploded in 2019-20, to the point where he has launched  himself into  the conversation for National Player of the Year honors. Garza leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 5 nationally in scoring average, with the conference’s No. 3 field goal percentage. He also cleans up on the glass, currently sitting second in rebounds per game.

A multi-dimensional offensive threat who dominates the paint and can stretch the floor from beyond the arc, Garza has been straight-up unguardable at times for the Hawkeyes. He has scored in double figures in all but one game, a stretch that has included some jaw-dropping performances: Garza dropped 44 points (17-32 from the floor) in Iowa’s loss to Michigan in December and 34 (13-19) to go along with 12 rebounds in an 89-86 defeat to Penn State earlier this month.

Garza is coming off of another monster outing the last time out against Rutgers in which he racked up 28 points on 11-17 shooting to go along with 13 boards.

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Wisconsin-Iowa is part of a Big Ten seeding scramble

More on Wisconsin-Iowa

We have discussed Monday’s game between the Wisconsin Badgers and Iowa Hawkeyes through a number of lenses. These discussions have revolved around the matchup between Nate Reuvers and Luka Garza in the paint. They have dealt with the need for Wisconsin to show its toughness and manhood after being humiliated by Purdue. Removed from those angles, however, Monday’s game also carries with it the simple fact that any game lost in the Big Ten can have profound consequences for the Big Ten Tournament.

The annual goal for Wisconsin basketball, relative to the Big Ten Tournament, is to get the double-bye as a top-four seed. If UW hits that target, its Big Ten regular season achieved one of its central objectives. Before the start of play on Sunday morning, Jan. 26 (Maryland visits Indiana later on Sunday, while Minnesota hosts Michigan State and Ohio State visits Northwestern), Wisconsin and Iowa are part of a traffic jam in the upper half of the conference.

The Badgers and Hawkeyes are part of a six-team cluster. Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota occupy the third through eighth slots in the Big Ten standings. They are separated by one game. Rutgers is 6-3, while Wisconsin and Minnesota are currently 5-4. The Gophers will either be 5-5 or 6-4 by the end of Sunday. The Maryland-Indiana loser will also be 5-4, while the winner joins Rutgers in a tie for third at 6-3.

Imagine a scenario in which the Big Ten remains bunched up like this in early March. That certainly seems realistic if not likely. Imagine the final two games of the Big Ten regular season making the difference between a double-bye (top-four seed at the Big Ten Tournament) and having to play in the 8-versus-9 second-round game, with the winner to face (potentially) top-seeded Michigan State in the quarterfinals. That is a massive difference. Right there, the value of notching a win in Monday’s Wisconsin-Iowa game can be appreciated.

Do we have to say more? We could, but if a point is adequately made, why add more words? That’s mere fluff. The heart of the matter is abundantly clear. Wisconsin and Iowa need that four seed, and they just as urgently need to stay away from the 8-9 game at the Big Ten Tournament.

Nate Reuvers takes center stage vs Iowa

More on Nate Reuvers

Yes, Nate Reuvers won’t defeat the Iowa Hawkeyes by himself on Monday night in Iowa City. He will need help. He will need his teammates to compete with the vigor and pride one would expect after the Wisconsin Badgers no-showed against the Purdue Boilermakers this past Friday in West Lafayette.

Reuvers, Wisconsin’s main man in the middle, can’t expect to outplay Luka Garza. Iowa’s sensational big man is a Big Ten First-Team All-America lock and a genuine Player of the Year candidate. Outplaying Garza in a one-on-one matchup is an overly ambitious expectation. It doesn’t square with reality. Here’s the thing, though: Reuvers doesn’t have to outplay Garza.

Brendan Stiles has covered Iowa athletics for several years through multiple outlets. He has a radio segment every Friday afternoon — 5:20 p.m. Central time — at 1700 The Champ in Des Moines. If you want someone who is attuned to Iowa basketball and knows what makes the Hawkeyes succeed or fail, Brendan is a terrific resource.

I asked him for his main insight into this game. This is what he said:

“The key matchup will undoubtedly be Nate Reuvers going toe-to-toe with Luka Garza, who is continuing to make a case for not only Big Ten Player of the Year honors, but national as well. If Reuvers can hold his own against Garza, the Badgers have a chance to steal this game on the road. If Garza has his way with Reuvers, though, it will be a long night for Wisconsin.”

There you have it. It’s not matter of Reuvers getting the better of Garza. Merely putting up a good fight and not getting demolished is Reuvers’ task. If he shows he belongs on the same court and doesn’t allow Garza to run wild, Wisconsin’s team identity and cohesive defense can have their desired effect. If Reuvers gets trucked by Garza, however, the damage of such a blowout (if it happens) will spill into the rest of the game and make life very unmanageable for Wisconsin.

One subplot of the Reuvers-Garza matchup is the question of how many minutes Wisconsin coach Greg Gard will allot to Micah Potter. Gard can’t put Potter on Garza — that would be a total mismatch in Iowa’s favor. Reuvers has to be reasonably effective against Garza if only because few other players on the Badgers’ roster can handle Garza. Reuvers is the central figure of this game for Wisconsin whether he likes it or not. Given that Wisconsin seems to keep running into road opponents at the worst possible time, the idea of Reuvers needing to handle an unwelcome assignment fits the mood and the situation for the Badgers.

This figures to be an uncomfortable game for Wisconsin. No one has a more uncomfortable assignment than Nate Reuvers. Let’s see how he handles it.

Iowa game is a test of manhood for Wisconsin

Wisconsin-Iowa

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.

How to Watch Maryland vs. Iowa, NCAA Basketball Live Stream, Schedule, TV Channel, Start Time

Watch Maryland vs. Iowa Live Online.

After a strong non-conference showing, the Maryland Terrapins and Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves at opposite ends of the Big Ten standings in the early stages of conference play. With the Terrapins near the top of the league and Iowa near the bottom, the Hawkeyes will look to get back on track in the Big Ten when they play host for this conference showdown.

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Maryland vs. Iowa

  • When: Friday, January 10
  • Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
  • TV: FS1
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

Maryland picked up its third straight win in its last contest, beating a ranked Ohio State team 67-55 at home. Anthony Cowan Jr. paced the Terrapins, pouring on 20 points in the victory, including 10 points from the free throw line. The difference in the game came at the three-point line with Maryland shooting 8-for-18 from three compared to a 5-for-27 effort from long range for the Buckeyes. Maryland has yet to win a true road game this season, going 0-2 in enemy territory.

Iowa lost its second straight game earlier in the week, falling 76-70 on the road to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Despite 21 points from Joe Wieskamp, the Hawkeyes could not get the job done in Lincoln, with three-point shooting being a big reason why. Iowa went 4-for-33 from deep range, which proved to be insurmountable. Center Luka Garza leads Iowa in scoring on the year with over 22 points per game. Getting him more involved could be a priority in this matchup.

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10 for 20: Iowa basketball

Iowa basketball in the 2020s

The Iowa Hawkeyes aren’t expected to be a giant in the college basketball world, but the program has shown under numerous coaches that it can reach a relatively lofty place in the sport — not the top tier, but in a very solid and respectable second tier below the heavyweights. No, Iowa shouldn’t be expected to be Michigan State or Ohio State, but it is hard to deny the sense that it should be a little more dependable than it has been under Fran McCaffery.

Iowa, to be very clear, is a hard-to-peg Big Ten program. It doesn’t have the access to big-city talent other league schools enjoy. It doesn’t have a towering reputation, but it does have an appreciably impressive basketball tradition developed by Ralph Miller, Lute Olson, and Tom Davis, three great college basketball coaches. If one is to ask about the big challenge facing Iowa basketball in the 2020s, you will probably get many different responses and many different standards. Some will say Iowa ought to be making more Sweet 16s — it has made none under McCaffery. Some will say Iowa needs to get higher NCAA seeds. The highest under Fran is No. 7. Those are good answers.

To me, however, the ultimate challenge facing Iowa basketball is this: Can it make the NCAA Tournament a high percentage of the time? That gets at the sense of underachievement in Iowa City more than anything else.

If you look at Iowa under Fran McCaffery, you will note that the Hawkeyes have missed the NCAAs five times in nine seasons. Sweet 16s are good, and more high seeds will likely translate to a Sweet 16, but before Iowa tackles those bigger goals, the Hawkeyes simply have to get to the Big Show more often. Wisconsin is a really good role model here. The Badgers wouldn’t always thrive under Bo Ryan in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but they were always there. One of those years, they were bound to do better, and they did occasionally climb higher.

Wisconsin fans won’t mind if Iowa continues to stumble… but if Iowa wants to reach a specific level of quality in the coming decade, it needs to give itself more chances in March.