Khalil Iverson
The Iowa Hawkeyes entered Tuesday night’s Big Ten matchup against Wisconsin with a 1-7 Big Ten record and five double-digit conference losses. But after being blown out by league-leading Purdue, the Hawkeyes rebounded for a 85-67 win over the Badgers at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
The Badgers missed their first nine shots and fell behind 9-0, a hole they would never be able to crawl out of.
Coach Greg Gard knows what he has with his offense. They’re going to struggle. But he wasn’t happy with the effort on the defensive end. Gard said, “We are not built offensively to make it a shootout.”
The Badgers (10-11, 3-5 Big Ten) were coming off a 25-point win over Illinois last Friday, but lost for the fourth time in the last five games with all four losses coming on the road.
Ethan Happ had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Khalil Iverson added 17 points and seven boards. Charlie Thomas chipped in with 10 points off the bench, but he struggled on defense too.
After that group, Brevin Pritzl, Brad Davison and Nate Reuvers combined to make just 5 of 25 shots. The trio of starters combined to score just 16 points among them.
The Badgers hit just 4 of 18 three-pointers (22.2%).
Iowa freshman Luke Garza had 17 points and 16 rebounds. Sophomore Tyler Cook had 17 points and five rebounds.
The Badgers return to action Friday night in East Lansing against the Michigan State Spartans.