Iowa Defeats No. 20 Wisconsin, 88-86, in Overtime

IOWA CITY, Iowa. – The Iowa men’s basketball team defeated No. 20 Wisconsin in overtime, 88-86, on Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes advance to 14-11 on the season and 7-8 in Big Ten Conference play.

A layup by senior Tony Perkins with under two seconds remaining in overtime proved to be the game winner. Perkins lost the ball, got it back and laid it up for the win. Perkins scored 18 points with 16 of them coming in the second half and overtime.

Freshman Owen Freeman led the Hawkeyes in the scoring column with 20 points. Grabbing 12 rebounds, Freeman secured his fifth double-double of his young career. Freeman was perfect from the field knocking down all six of his shots. Freeman set a new career-high in assists with six.

Junior Payton Sandfort scored 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Sandfort shot 7-of-7 from the free throw line and tied a career-high in blocks with two. Sophomore Josh Dix added 17 points on 8-of-11 from the field. Dix grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists.

Wisconsin got off to a hot start opening, 12-of-15 (80%) from the field and leading the Hawkeyes by as many as 13 points. Ball security was nearly perfect as both teams combined for just four first half turnovers.

Freeman led the Hawkeyes in the first 20-minutes with 10 points. Iowa shot 14-of-25 (56.0%) from the field and knocked down 12-of-14 (85.7%) from the free-throw line in the first half but trailed the Badgers, 43-37, going into the break.

Dix, Freeman, Perkins, and Sandfort combined to score all of Iowa’s second half points. After not leading or being tied in the first half the Hawkeyes tied it up at 47 early into the second half. Iowa grabbed their first lead of the game, 49-47, two minutes into the second half. Iowa had the ball with the chance to win it in regulation, but the Wisconsin defense held. 40 minutes wasn’t enough, and the game headed to overtime.

Tied 86-86, the Hawkeyes were able to get a stop and call a timeout with under 10 seconds remaining. Perkins got to the rim and was able to win the game for Iowa with a layup.

The Hawkeyes finished the game shooting 30-of-57 (52.6%) from the field. Iowa converted at the free throw line shooting 24-of-30 (80.0%).

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“Well, you know, it seems like we’re either up or down. It’d be nice to get a lead and keep it. But I think we all recognize like this league it’s kind of what it is. Everybody’s good. I say that all the time, but everybody has players everybody has a coach that’s really good. I mean they run stuff. They challenge you to think and they challenge you to make plays. You have to be able to stay the course. [Wisconsin] looked good. They are draining threes early and up 12, 14, something like that. That thing can go to 25 quickly with this team. We kept it manageable. I thought the crowd was great. They really helped us in that stretch in particular…”

GAME NOTABLES

• Senior Tony Perkins had a layup with 1.3 seconds remaining to give Iowa an 88-86 victory over No. 20/21 Wisconsin on Mediacom Court.
  • It was Iowa’s first win over a ranked opponent this season (1-4) and its first Quad 1 victory of the season.
  • It is Iowa’s first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 15 Indiana, 90-68, last season in Bloomington.
  • It was the first home win over a ranked foe since downing No. 15 Indiana, 91-89, on Jan. 5, 2023.
• Wisconsin made 6-of-8 field goals, including four 3s, in the first four minutes to build a 17-6 lead. 
  • The Badgers led by as many as 13 in the first half (35-22) before Iowa cut the deficit to 47-43 at the break.
  • Iowa scored the first six points of the second half to take its first lead (49-47).
• Iowa led by nine points in the second half (74-65) with 7:06 remaining before the game went to overtime.
• There were nine ties and 11 lead changes in the second half and overtime.
• It is the second straight year Iowa and Wisconsin have played an overtime game in Iowa City.
  • It was Iowa’s first OT game this season. 
• Saturday’s game against Wisconsin had a sellout crowd of 14,998.  It was the first sellout in Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season.
• Iowa had four players score in double figures for the 11th time this season. 
• Freshman Owen Freeman recorded his fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks.  He made 6-of-6 field goals and was 8-for-11 from the free throw line.
  • It was Freeman’s second career 20-point game. 
  • The five double-doubles are the most by a Hawkeye freshman since Melsahn Basabe in 2010-11.
  • It is his 14th game in double digits this season.
  • He has had three or more blocks in 10 games this season.
  • The six assists are a career high.
• Sophomore Josh Dix scored 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
  • The eight field goals are a career high.
  • It is Dix’s sixth game in double digits this season. 
• Junior Payton Sandfort scored 18 points, reaching double figures for the 20th time this season.
• Senior Tony Perkins finished with 18 points – his 23rd game in double figures.
• Iowa shot 52.6 percent from the field – its 13th game at 50 percent or better.
  • The Hawkeyes are 11-2 when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor.
• The Hawkeyes went 24-of-30 from the free throw line. 
  • It Is the sixth time this season Iowa has made at least 20 free throws.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Tuesday, traveling to East Lansing to face Michigan State at 6 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on Peacock.