Jan. 5, 2014
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By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com
MADISON, Wis. — No. 4/5 Wisconsin used a second-half surge to come-from-behind to down the No. 22/23 University of Iowa men’s basketball team, 75-71, Sunday night at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers erupted for 51 points in the second half, making 12-of-23 field goal attempts with six 3-pointers. It was a night-and-day performance from half one where the Badgers made 8-of-30 shots and scored just 24 points. The Hawkeyes led 35-24 at the break.
“It all fell apart right away (in the second half),” said UI head coach Fran McCaffery. “We had miscommunication on a made 3, and we started quick shooting the ball, which you can’t do on the road. We were sideways. It didn’t really settle down until after the technical (fouls).”
Iowa finished the game shooting 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the field and 4-of-10 (40 percent) from 3-point range. The Hawkeyes made 17-of-25 free throws and won the rebounding battle, 42-35, including 16 offensive boards. Iowa had a 36-12 advantage in points in the paint and 23-7 in second-chance points.
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Senior Roy Devyn Marble paced the Hawkeyes with 27 points, making 10-of-24 field goals and 4-of-5 attempts from long range. Junior Aaron White scored 12 points and had eight rebounds, while senior Melsahn Basabe had a game-high nine rebounds.
Ben Brust paced Wisconsin with 19 points — all coming in the second half — on 5-of-9 shooting with three 3-pointers. Josh Gasser scored 14 points on 3-of-5 shooting. The Badgers shot 37.7 percent (20-of-53) for the game with 10 3-pointers (10-of-22) and made 25-of-35 free throw attempts.
“We showed we’re a good team, but we have to be able to play a little better to get the win,” said McCaffery. “We’re close in that regard. Melsahn’s defense on (Sam) Dekker was fabulous. At crunch time, Marble and White were the guys, and we need somebody else to step up.”
After trailing 35-24 at the break, Wisconsin made its run right off the bat, using a Brust 3-pointer on the first possession to cut the lead to 35-27 before his second 3-ball made the score 37-32 with 16 minutes to play.
Wisconsin trimmed the lead to 41-39 with 13:16 remaining and the game’s momentum took a drastic turn with just under 12 minutes to play. During a media stoppage, McCaffery was whistled for a pair of technical fouls and was ejected.
The Badgers capitalized as Brust knocked down four-consecutive free throws from the “T” before Nigel Hayes made 1-of-2 from the free throw stripe, turning a two-point deficit into a 44-41 lead.
“I was in a disagreement and went after the “T”, and it was well-deserved,” said McCaffery. “I didn’t want the second one, so I feel bad, and I apologized for my team for that, but unfortunately it was called.”
Wisconsin stretched its lead to 49-43 on a Gasser 3-pointer and 57-49 on a Duje Dukan 3-ball with 7:47 remaining. Iowa didn’t fold.
The Hawkeyes cut the lead to 62-60 with 4:32 to play behind a free throw by Adam Woodbury and back-to-back layups by Marble. Iowa trimmed its deficit to 64-63 on a 3-pointer in transition from Marble with three minutes remaining, but Wisconsin capitalized on a second-chance opportunity in what proved to the dagger.
After forcing a Brust miss, Sam Dekker secured the offensive rebound before knocking down a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:21 left to give Wisconsin a 67-63 lead. The sophomore then stretched the Badger lead to 70-63 with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 1:06 remaining.
Iowa cut the deficit to three (74-71) points before running out of time in the 75-71 defeat.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 9-3 lead over the first five minutes behind five points by Marble before pushing their advantage to 15-4 at the 12:48 mark. Marble scored nine of Iowa’s first 15 points, and Iowa started the game 8-of-16 from the floor; Wisconsin was 1-of-13.
Frank Kaminsky single-handedly brought Wisconsin back, connecting on back-to-back triples to cut the lead to 19-12 and ignite a 15-4 run that saw the Badgers climb to within 21-20 with 8:02 left in the first half.
With the score 23-22, Iowa netted 12-of-the-final-14 points of the half to send the Hawkeyes into the locker room with a 35-24 advantage. Iowa shot 46.9 (15-of-32) percent in the first half, while limiting Wisconsin to 26.7 (8-of-30) shooting.
Iowa (12-3, 1-1) returns to action Thursday, hosting Northwestern on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena beginning at 8 p.m. (CT).