Behind a balanced, efficient offensive performance and a couple of big runs in the first half, No. 6 Wisconsin cruised to an emphatic 82-50 victory over No. 25 Iowa Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
Junior forward Sam Dekker scored 17 points, including 10 in the first half, and grabbed eight rebounds, while sophomore forward Nigel Hayes added 16 points of his own to lead the Badgers (17-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) to a convincing win over the Hawkeyes (13-6, 4-2). The 32-point margin of victory was UW’s most lopsided win ever against Iowa and was a result of what redshirt senior guard Josh Gasser felt was the team’s most complete performance of the season.
“I thought we played a good first half, but we’ve done that before. We wanted to play a good 40 minutes,” Gasser said. “The one Big Ten loss we had against Rutgers, we were up 12 at half, and then we crapped the bed in the second half.”
Senior forward Frank Kaminsky finished the game with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and sophomore guard Bronson Koenig chipped in 13 points as well in his second start since starting point guard Traevon Jackson went down with a broken foot.
Redshirt junior Jarrod Uthoff led the Hawkeyes with 12 points, including a buzzer-beater from half-court at the end of the first half. Uthoff, who transferred from UW after redshirting during his freshman year under controversial circumstances, was heavily booed each time he made a basket and several times when he was passed the ball.
As a team, the Badgers went 49.2 percent from the field, including going 18-31 in the second half, and dished out 16 assists. They also tied a school record by committing just one turnover on the night, which came courtesy of a shot clock violation on their opening possession of the second half.
“I thought our guys did an excellent job of making the extra pass and using good ball fakes,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “You have to give our guys a lot of credit; there’s not too many times that you can do that.”
Wisconsin dominated in just about every area, going 9-22 from beyond the arc while also outscoring the Hawkeyes 36-12 in the paint.
“I think anybody that plays (Wisconsin) right now, being where they’re ranked and where they’re predicted to be ranked, has an opportunity (for a big win),” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “We had an opportunity tonight, and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
UW came storming right out of the gates, using a trio of 3-pointers from Kaminsky, Koenig and Gasser within a span of 1:02 to take a 13-4 lead in the early stages of the game.
Badger fans held their collective breath when Gasser had to head to the locker room in the second half with an apparent dislocated left shoulder, but he soon returned after a quick physical exam.
Iowa starting center Adam Woodbury received some heavy criticism from ESPN color commentator Dan Dakich after he poked both Hayes and Kaminsky in the eyes, which Dakich felt was intentional. However, Kaminsky downplayed the incident after the game.
“I’m blind,” Kaminsky deadpanned when asked about it. “It happens during the game; I’ve had much worse happen,” he went on to explain.
The victory was Wisconsin’s fourth consecutive win over Iowa, and the Badgers are now 18-7 against the Hawkeyes during Ryan’s tenure.
The Badgers will now head to Ann Arbor, where they’ll take on Michigan Saturday at 6 p.m.
