It had been nearly two full years since the Wisconsin men’s basketball team had beaten Iowa and with six minutes left still facing a nine-point deficit, it looked as if the Badgers were going to add yet another year to the drought.
But this time UW responded to the adversity, tying the game on the strength of an 11-2 run and eventually heading to overtime after a 3-pointer by sophomore point guard Traevon Jackson knotted the score at 58 with 20 seconds left.
Although the Badgers managed just a single field goal in two overtime periods, they eventually outlasted the Hawkeyes by making 13-of-14 free throws in the 74-70 double overtime victory.
To say the Badgers (7-3 Big Ten, 16-7 overall) escaped Wednesday night would be a massive understatement. The Hawkeyes (3-7, 14-9) forced 12 turnovers and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, converting them into 17 second-chance points and 15 points off turnovers.
After Wisconsin built an 11-point first half lead, Iowa took control for most of the duration, following a technical foul by Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery with a 34-14 run that appeared to be enough for yet another upset in Madison.
Once again, the shots simply weren’t falling for Wisconsin. UW started the second half 5-for-20 from the field and managed to shoot just 12-for-45 in the 2nd half and overtime. But after being out-rebounded at one point by 12, the Badgers started to control the glass and make shots, doing just enough to get into overtime.
Once there, Wisconsin made just one field goal in 10 minutes, winning the game at the foul line to the surprise of many in the Kohl Center crowd.
“To close that gap after we were down nine and send it to overtime, “ head coach Bo Ryan said. “That was really gutsy by our guys.”
Although at times shaky, the senior core ultimately came through in the clutch for the Badgers. Senior forward Jared Berggren broke out of a mini-slump with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks for his second career double double. After struggling at the free throw line again during regulation, Berggren made all four of his free throws in the two overtime periods.
“You get things rolling a bit,” Berggren said of the free throw success. “It’s a free throw, its an easy shot and it should be automatic.”
Wisconsin’s comeback was fueled by a quick stretch that, in essence, woke up a sleeping giant. Down nine in the closing minutes, junior guard Ben Brust hit an open jumper for three of his game-high 18 points. Junior forward Ryan Evans then found Berggren inside for a traditional three-point play just seconds later, immediately putting the Badgers within a bucket.
“We had two breakdowns immediately,” McCaffery said. “That changed everything because it makes it a one possession game really quickly.”
“It was good that we got something positive,” Brust said. “Offensively we were in a bit of a slump there.”
While it seemed UW might have dodged a bullet by getting the game into overtime, things did not get any easier heading into the extra frame.
Wisconsin failed to notch a single field goal in the first overtime, sending the game to a second extra frame on the backs of a 4-for-4 effort at the free throw line. Once in the second OT, Wisconsin continued to assert itself at the charity stripe, making 9-of-10 while hitting just a single shot from the field.
Fortunately, that shot was a three-pointer by freshman forward Sam Dekker with just 1:37 left, giving the Badgers a three-point lead they would never relinquish.
“We just kept working,” Berggren said. “We just kept working, showed a lot of fight, and did just enough to get the win.”
One of the reasons Wisconsin was able to overcome another poor shooting effort was the defensive effort on Iowa’s leading scorer, sophomore forward Aaron White.
Having dominated UW in the past, White did not have as much of an impact Wednesday night, finishing with 13 points but just a 3-for-13 effort from the floor.
“Overall we did a good job,” Dekker said of the defense on White. “He almost brought them back at the end.”
The Badgers now continue a brutal stretch of play with three straight games against ranked opponents starting with Saturday’s game against No. 3 Michigan. Still squarely in the midst of a tight Big Ten title race, the Badgers know this was an important victory.
“Its a win that hopefully gives us confidence against Michigan coming up,” Dekker said. “Hopefully we can ride this wave and get a streak going.”
