Wisconsin’s AJ Storr and Steven Crowl’s combined 43 points was not enough as the No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes 88-86 on Saturday in Iowa City. Hawkeyes guard Tony Perkins scored a last-second layup in overtime to seal the game.
The Badgers snapped their four-game losing streak Tuesday after they handed Ohio State their tenth Big Ten loss of the season at the Kohl Center. However, Wisconsin faced the opposing Iowa crowd as they tried to overcome their struggles on the road after being 3-6 in away games coming into this matchup.
Wisconsin started the game with an early 11-point lead in the first five minutes thanks to their efficient 3-point shooting as the Badgers made four of their first five 3-point shots.
Wisconsin led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but the Hawkeyes slashed their deficit down to four points by halftime.
Storr and Crowl led the Badgers in scoring in the first half, and that trend continued throughout the game. However, Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn came up huge for the Badgers. He led with 10 points in the second half after making three of six attempts at the free-throw line. Hepburn finished the game just two points shy of 20 points.
Wisconsin found themselves down early in the second half as the Hawkeyes led by as much as nine points, but they dug themselves out of that deficit and tied the game with two minutes left in the second half. Wisconsin forward Tyler Wahl gave the Badgers the lead with a layup off a Max Klesmit offensive rebound with one minute left in regulation, but that lead would be short-lived after Perkins tied the game up and sent it into overtime.
Wisconsin came out swinging in overtime as Wahl scored back-to-back layups, but he fouled out halfway into overtime and forced Badgers head coach Greg Gard to substitute him with Carter Gilmore.
Iowa tied the game with just over a minute left in overtime as both teams struggled to score for the remainder of the game. Perkins came in clutch for the Hawkeyes when Hepburn attempted to steal the ball from his hands, but Perkins avoided the turnover and spun around Hepburn to lay the ball up with 1.3 seconds left.
In the final possession, the Badgers launched a full-court inbound pass. The Hawkeyes intercepted the pass, sealing the game for Iowa.
“We could never get our heels dug in,” Gard said. “[Iowa] constantly had us off balance. We could never get enough stops.”
This was the Badgers’ second loss this season in an overtime game after leading by double digits during regulation. Wisconsin moves to 17-9 overall on the season and 9-6 in Big Ten play with this loss being their fourth-straight road loss.
The Badgers will face the Maryland Terrapins on Tuesday at the Kohl Center.
