by IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Bronson Koenig (Ho-Chunk Nation) scored 15 points and Wisconsin upset eighth-ranked Iowa 67-59 on Wednesday night, scoring their sixth-straight win over the Hawkeyes.
Nigel Hayes had 10 points for the Badgers (18-10, 10-5 Big Ten), whose streak of nine wins in 10 now includes a victory in Iowa City that should help their NCAA tournament hopes immensely. It was the Badgers’ third win over a top-10 team, a list that also includes wins over Maryland and Michigan State.
Zak Showalter‘s layup with 1:15 left put Wisconsin ahead 64-58, and a steal and two free throws by Koenig put the game out of reach.
“We understand who we are. They play within their character and their identity,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “We’ve got guys who aren’t afraid of the moment.”
With the win, Wisconsin moved to 10-5 in Big Ten play, clinching a winning conference record for the 16th-straight season, equaling the longest such streak in Big Ten history.
The Badgers also notched their second top-10 road win of the season, accomplishing the feat for the first time since 1955.
Peter Jok scored 21 points and Adam Woodbury had 18 rebounds for Iowa (20-7, 11-4), which fell a full game behind league-leading Indiana after shooting just 27 percent in the second half.
I thought we got great shot opportunities,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said, adding that the Hawkeyes’ 14 turnovers were a big factor in its loss. “We got a little hesitant at times.”
Iowa entered play in control of its own destiny in the Big Ten race, largely because it hosts the Hoosiers next Tuesday.
The Hawkeyes don’t have that luxury anymore.
Iowa’s Jarrod Uthoff picked up his fourth foul with the game tied at 56 with 5:40 left, leaving the Hawkeyes without their best player for three minutes down the stretch. Koenig and Hayes then hit crucial 3s, giving the Badgers a 62-58 lead with 1:42 lead, and Uthoff missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Uthoff finished with just 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting — and Iowa didn’t hit a shot from the floor in the final six minutes.
“We didn’t do enough in crunch time We didn’t do enough in, whatever. We didn’t get the necessary stops. We didn’t execute like we needed to. We just have to do a better job coming back,” McCaffery said.
Wisconsin held Iowa to season lows of 59 points and 32.7 percent shooting.
Still, Jok kept Iowa within a point at 35-34 at halftime — even though the Hawkeyes let Wisconsin shoot 52 percent while turning it over eight times.
But Uthoff, who was held to just one first-half basket, drilled a 30-footer to beat the shot clock and put Iowa ahead 41-35.
Wisconsin hung around, though, and Khalil Iverson‘s emphatic dunk gave it a 53-51 lead with just under nine minutes left.
“That’s a two-hand windmill, ladies and gentlemen,” Hayes said. “You don’t see that all the time. That’s dunk contest material.”
The Badgers closed with an 11-3 run, improbably putting them just two games back of the Big Ten leaders.
“This team can get so much better yet,” Gard said. “They’ve done a good job of creating their identity.”
