The Iowa Hawkeyes came to Madison Tuesday night ranked for the first time all season but the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers likely sent them right on their way out of the top 25.

Wisconsin played arguably its’ best game of the season Tuesday night, dominating the defensive side of the ball while using a plethora of scoring to attack the multiple different defensive looks the Hawkeye defense gave them in their 82-50 win at the Kohl Center.

UW (17-2, 5-1 Big Ten) showed Iowa and the rest of the Big Ten why they should be considered the best team in the conference. In the first half, the Badgers slowed the Hawkeyes to 17 points on 7 of 25 shooting (28 percent) while holding them to just 1 of 7 shooting (14.3 percent) from three. The lone three in the half for Iowa came on a buzzer beater from beyond half-court by former Badger Jarrod Uthoff.

The Hawkeyes went on scoring droughts of more than five minutes and more than four minutes in the first half. Iowa scored just two points from the 9:49 mark until there was just 2:51 left in the opening half.

No player scored more than five points for the Hawkeyes in the first half and Uthoff was the only one to make more than one field goal. At the end of the game, Uthoff led Iowa in scoring with 10 points and was the only player for the Hawkeyes to reach double-figures.

Hawkeye forward Aaron White came into Tuesday’s game averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game but managed just seven points on five shots. His first of two made field goals came with 5:30 left in the first half.

“I thought we did a lot of good things; helping one another defensively,” Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said of his team’s defense. “You don’t hold a team like [Iowa], for that long, without having guys really buying in and doing their job. Iowa was good on both ends of the floor but it was nice to see our guys listen to the instructions and try to make the opposition score in different ways.”

In the second half, the Badgers didn’t turn in quite the defensive performance that they had in the first half as Iowa went 13-for-21 (61.9 percent) overall and 5 of 8 (62.5 percent) from three.

But it was one of Wisconsin’s most efficient offensive performance of the season in the second half that sent them on their way to their second-straight victory after falling to Rutgers a little over a week ago and kept Iowa from thinking about any sort of comeback attempt.

Wisconsin was 18 of 31 (58.1 percent) from the floor in the second half as they attacked the many different defensive sets Iowa used. UW was able to break both half-court and full-court presses that were deployed by Iowa while they found gaps in the Hawkeyes’ two-three zone with crisp, efficient passes that led to 36 points in the paint.

“I thought we, at times, made them work; a little tough on the defensive end,” forward Sam Dekker said. “And then when we moved the ball like the way that we did, it all just flows together really well.”

The Badgers had assists on nine of their 18 second half field goals and on 7 of their 11 first half baskets to finish with 16 assists for the game. To add to the impressive 16 assist performance, Wisconsin had a season-low one turnover that came on a shot clock violation early in the second half.

“I thought our guys did an excellent job of making the extra pass, using good ball fakes and as long as Iowa is, length, wing-spans, things like that and quickness…you have to give our guys a lot of credit. There’s not too many times you can do that,” Ryan said of his team’s one turnover.

“Anytime you only turn the ball over one time and you follow the scouting report – which Coach Close did a great job of – you’re going to put yourself in a good position to win,” senior guard Josh Gasser said.

Dekker was the only UW player to hit double-figures in the first half but at the end of the impressive second half, three more Badgers (Nigel Hayes, Frank Kaminsky and Bronson Koenig) finished with double-digit points.

It was the combined offensive and defensive performance from the Badgers that made people forget all about Iowa’s new top 25 ranking and one that showed that UW truly is one of the best teams in the nation.