MADISON, Wisconsin — The University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to Wisconsin, 64-52, on Wednesday night at the Kohl Center. Iowa moves to 17-11 on the season and 9-8 in Big Ten play.
Despite shooting 9-of-29 (31 percent) in the first half, the Hawkeyes trailed by just one point at halftime.
Iowa led for 42 percent of the contest (16:35), which saw 14 lead changes; shooting woes proved determinative, however, as the Hawkeyes shot 32 percent (20-of-62) for the game including 3-of-28 (11 percent) from behind the arc.
Fifth-year Filip Rebraca and junior Tony Perkins led Iowa in scoring with 13 points, apiece. Rebraca finished with seven rebounds and an assist, also leading the Hawkeyes in field goal percentage on 6-of-10 makes from the floor.
Redshirt junior Patrick McCaffery was Iowa’s final double-digit scorer with 10 points against the Badgers, while graduate student Connor McCaffery led the Hawkeyes with eight rebounds.
Wisconsin won on the glass, 38-30, and shot 52 percent (25-of-48) for the game.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“I felt it was the same at Northwestern, [in that] I didn’t think the shots we took were bad. I think you always go back and say, ‘could we have worked the ball a little bit more? Maybe got a drive, maybe got a post feed?’ But you’ve seen us play. We typically let our guys go. We let them shoot the ball. I encourage them to shoot open shots, open threes. I thought we moved it. It was a frustrating night from that standpoint. It was two games in a row where it just wasn’t dropping from three.
I thought we competed pretty hard defensively to hang in. We were only down one at half. It is unfortunate the way we defended the out of bounds plays late. Gave them six points. I think that was the game right there. They blew the game open. Give them credit for that. They executed.”
HAWKEYE NOTABLES
- Tonight’s game featured 14 lead changes, the most in an Iowa game this season surpassing 13 lead changes in the Iowa-Michigan State game on Jan. 26.
- Iowa had three players score in double figures: Filip Rebraca (13), Tony Perkins (13), and Payton Sandfort (10).
- Iowa has played four of its last five games on the road.
UP NEXT
Iowa (17-11, 9-8) returns to action on Saturday versus Michigan State (17-10, 9-7). Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The game is sold out.
