Iowa Falls to Wisconsin, 83-72

MADISON, Wis. – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to No. 21 Wisconsin, 83-72, on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center. 

Freshman Owen Freeman secured his second double-double of the season. The Moline, Ill., native scored 14 points and pulled in 13 rebounds. Freeman played a season high 36 minutes.

Senior Tony Perkins scored 18 points in the second half as he finished as the game’s leading scorer with a season high 25 points. Perkins also had three steals and grabbed four rebounds. Graduate Ben Krikke rounded out the Hawkeyes with double digits scoring, tallying 10 points on an efficient 3-of-4 shooting.

Wisconsin, who came into the game averaging 9.3 turnovers, were forced into eight first-half turnovers which Iowa converted into 10 points. Wisconsin finished the game with 13 turnovers, one off their season high.

Iowa finished the game shooting 27-of-62 (43.5%) from the field and 7-of-17 (41.2%) from deep. Wisconsin had four players in double digits and the Badgers were led by Tyler Wahl with 19 points and eight rebounds.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY

“We have to play better than we’ve played in these first three games. We lost to three really good teams. We have to not foul as much and not turn it over as much. We’re doing some things that make it hard. We’re doing some good things. I’m proud of that. We’ve got to be able to focus on the good things we did tonight and correct some of the things that need to be corrected.”

“We’ve got some youth. They have to get used to playing on the road in an environment like this. We foul way too much. This team is way too good to put on the foul like 35 times. They were in the bonus relatively early in the second half. It’s hard to come back when you do that.”

Game Notables

• Wisconsin used an 11-3 run midway through the second half to open up a 65-55 lead with 8:26 remaining.
  • The Badgers shot 58.3 percent (14-of-24) in the second half and made 20-of-26 free throws.
• The game featured seven ties and five lead changes and was tied at 32 at the half.
• Senior Tony Perkins recorded his third 20-point scoring game this season (ninth of his career), finishing with a season and -high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting.  He also had four rebounds, two assists and three steals.
  • The 25 points are tied for a season high by a Hawkeye this season.
  • Perkins has scored in double figures in 12 games.
• Freshman Owen Freeman posted his second double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, a career-high 13 rebounds and three blocks.
  • Freeman is the first freshman since Luka Garza to post multiple double-doubles.
  • It is Freeman’s sixth game with at least three blocks and fifth game with at least seven rebounds.
  • The 36 minutes are a career high and the most by a Hawkeye player this season.
  • The forward played all 20 minutes of the first half, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, eight rebounds and two blocks.
• Graduate Ben Krikke battled foul trouble to finish with 10 points in 20 minutes.
  • The Canadian has reached double digits in 12 of 14 games this season.
• Junior Payton Sandfort made three 3-point field goals in the game.  It is his ninth straight game making at least two 3-pointers.
• Iowa falls to 0-3 in games against ranked opponents and 0-4 in true road games this season.

Up Next
The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday, hosting Rutgers at 11 a.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.