MBB Preview \\ No. 21 Wisconsin

OPPONENT	No. 21 Wisconsin (18-5, 8-4) at Iowa (13-9, 4-7)
LOCATION	Iowa City, Iowa
DATE	Saturday, Feb. 8
TIP-OFF	Noon (CT)
RADIO	Hawkeye Radio Network
TV	NBC

 

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team will host No. 21 Wisconsin in a Saturday matinee, beginning at noon (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  The game will be televised on NBC.
• It is the Black & Gold Stripe game in CHA.
• Tickets are available for $35-75 (adults) and $20-25 (youth).

FOLLOW LIVE
Radio: Saturday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call.  The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.  The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
Stream: Saturday's game will be televised on Peacock with Noah Eagle (play-by-play) and Nick Bahe (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The Hawkeyes will play their first Big Ten double play Saturday, hosting No. 21 Wisconsin at noon on Mediacom Court.  The Badgers downed Iowa, 116-85, on Jan. 3 in Madison.  
• Leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker sophomore Owen Freeman underwent season-ending finger surgery on Feb. 3.  
• Iowa’s last ranked win came on Feb. 17, 2024 -- an 88-86 overtime victory over 20th-ranked Wisconsin.
• Senior Payton Sandfort and junior Josh Dix combined for 50 points in Iowa’s nine-point loss to No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday.  Dix scored 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while Sandfort netted 23 on 9-of-17 shooting with five 3-pointers.
• Sandfort was named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Midseason top 10 on Wednesday.  He is one of two players from the Big Ten Conference on the list along with Rutgers’ Ace Bailey.  
• Sandfort has 245 career 3-point field goals, 17 behind Jeff Horner for second place on Iowa’s all-time list.  
• Redshirt junior Riley Mulvey and sophomore Seydou Traore made their first starts as Hawkeyes against Purdue.  It was Iowa’s sixth different starting lineup this season.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten and ranks fifth nationally, averaging 85.5 points per game.  The Hawkeyes have the top field goal (.501) and effective field goal percentage (.582) in the Big Ten, ranking fourth nationally in both categories. 
• Sandfort has scored 20+ five times in the last eight games, giving him a team-best nine 20+ point games this season.  
 • Iowa has shot better than 50 percent from the floor 11 times and better than 60 percent three times, including a season-best 62.7 percent in the win over New Orleans on Dec. 15.  The team is 9-2 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in 18 games, including 10+ in 12 contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern -- the most since 2022 -- and 17 in the win over Nebraska .  Iowa is tops in the Big Ten (18th nationally), averaging 10.3 per game.  
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (19.1, 3rd in NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.86, 3rd in NCAA). The team has had 20+ assists in nine games.

SCOUTING WISCONSIN
• The Badgers have won back-to-back games -- wins at Northwestern and at home over Indiana -- to improve to 18-5 overall and 8-4 in Big Ten play.  
•  Wisconsin has had an eight-game and seven-game winning streak this season.
• The Badgers are 3-4 in true road games with road wins at Rutgers, at USC and at Northwestern.
• Four Wisconsin players are averaging in double figures with John Tonje leading the way with 18.5 points (seventh in the Big Ten), shooting 46.9 percent from the floor, 40.7 percent from 3-point range and 91.8 from the foul stripe.  He is 135-of-147 in free throw attempts.
• John Blackwell (15.2 points), Nolan Winter (10.2) and Max Klesmit (10.2) are also in double figures.  Steven Crowl leads the team, averaging 5.7 rebounds, while Klesmit has a team-best 65 assists.  
• The Badgers are the No. 1 free throw shooting team in the nation, making 84.1 percent of its attempts.
• Wisconsin is No. 2 in the Big Ten (behind Iowa), making 10.1 3-pointers per game.  

SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday’s  game is the 177th game in the all-time series between Iowa and Wisconsin. The Badgers lead, 90-86.
• The Hawkeyes have won three of the last four meetings over Wisconsin in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, including an 88-86 overtime victory a season ago.
• The last two Iowa-Wisconsin games in Iowa City have both gone to overtime and both were decided by a single possession.

LAST GAME: NO. 7 PURDUE 90, IOWA 81

After battling to a 36-all tie in the first half, No. 7 Purdue used a 54-point second half to post a 90-81 victory over Iowa on Tuesday in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  The Hawkeyes trailed by 12 points with 15:13 left before closing the gap to three with under three minutes to play.
• Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix combined to scored 50 of Iowa’s 81 points.  Dix scored 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while Sandfort netted 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting with five 3-pointers.

FIRST MEETING: WISCONSIN 116, IOWA 85
Wisconsin notched its first Big Ten win of the season, downing the Hawkeyes, 116-85, on Jan. 3 in Madison. The 116 points were the Badgers’ most ever in the Big Ten game and in the Kohl Center.
• The Badgers were blistering from 3-point range, making a Big Ten and school record 21 3-point field goals. Wisconsin shot 64.5 percent as a team and 67.7
percent from long range.
• Iowa had four players land in double figures with graduate Drew Thelwell leading the way with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He was 9-of-14 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
• Wisconsin out-rebounded Iowa, 37-21, in the game.

 

 

IOWA IS...

• 6-0 when scoring 90+ points this season.
• 5-0 when winning the rebounding battle.
•10-0 when shooting more free throws than its opponents.
• 10-1 when leading at the half.

HIGH FLYING HAWKS

Iowa is the fifth-highest scoring offense in the nation, averaging 85.5 points.  It would be the team’s highest scoring average since 1988-89 (89.6 points).
• The Hawkeyes scored 80+ points in 11 consecutive games from Nov. 26-Jan. 17.  It was the longest stretch of the McCaffery era and the longest for the program since the 1988-89 season (13 straight).
• Iowa has scored 90+ points six times this season and the team has eclipsed the 100-point mark three times.
• The Hawkeyes have averaged 80+ points in each of the last four seasons.

JULIUS ERVING SMALL FORWARD OF THE YEAR MIDSEASON TOP 10

Senior Payton Sandfort is one of 10 players named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Midseason Top 10.  He is one of two players in the Big Ten on the list along with Rutgers’ Ace Bailey.