It was feast and famine for the Wisconsin Badgers survived as they overcame a poor shooting first half to defeat the Iowa Hawkeyes 74-61 Wednesday night at the Kohl Center. Despite shooting a paltry 31 percent from the field in the first half, the Wisconsin Badgers weathered a Hawkeye storm, and came out sizzling to start the second half, putting Iowa head coach Steve Alford and company away.
Devin Harris led all scorers with 17 points, despite getting into early foul trouble that forced the sophomore to sit out almost seven minutes of the first half. Along with Harris, junior Freddie Owens was forced to the bench with two early fouls. Harris and Owens, along with the other UW guards, took tremendous care of the ball, committing only five turnovers, to Iowa’s 17, on the night.
“I thought the difference to tonight’s game was turnovers and the three-point line,” Alford said. “I thought they did a good job. They outscored us by 18 points from the three point line … I just thought we got outworked tonight in the second half.”
After a poor first half that saw only one basket from Badger senior Kirk Penney, the Badgers trailed only 26-25. Iowa had solid control of the post in the first half as the Hawkeyes out-rebounded Wisconsin 20-12 heading into the break, while finding 12 of their first 14 points in the post. Iowa shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, but they were out-matched by Wisconsin’s ball control.
“I thought we really blew a lot of opportunities in the first half because I thought we were the sharper team in the first half,” Alford said. “I thought we did a lot of good thing in the first half, but we were careless.”
The Badgers came out strong to start the second half, pushing the ball and shutting down the Hawkeyes, allowing an 8-0 run by UW. After a lay up from Alando Tucker, Harris and Penney traded three point baskets, and Harris came away with a break away steal culminating in a breathtaking dunk that had Badger fans on their feet.
“In the second half, you come back with your regular unit, the group that practices a lot together,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “I’d love to tell you it was something I said at halftime. We just directed our comment to things we had to correct, things where we needed help. Keep working for good shots, they’ll start going down.”
The Badgers went to shoot almost 65 percent in the second half, connecting on six three pointers. The Hawkeyes didn’t hit a three until Brody Boyd connected in the games final minute.
Penney and Tucker finished with 14 points apiece, while Owens added 11. Owens consecutive jumpers from the free throw line with four minutes left sealed the game for the Badgers, 68-53.
Sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson hustled for 10 rebounds and four points over the dominating frontcourt of the Hawkeyes. Iowa’s Greg Brunner was seven of eight from the field, adding a team leading 14 points. Chauncey Leslie and Sean Sonderleiter had 12 a piece for the Hawkeyes.
The Badgers were able to keep Iowa’s leading scorers Leslie and junior forward Glen Worley off their averages, as Worley was plagued with foul trouble for the evening, only contributing five points and one rebound.
Freshmen point guard Jeff Horner, who had a career game against Illinois last week, was held to one field goal and two assists, while committing three turnovers.
Andreas Helmigk had a career high six points against the Hawkeyes, all of which coming in the last five minutes of the first half. Helmigk played 12 minutes, as Badger center Dave Mader was slowed by injury. While on the bench, Mader made use of an exercise bike to stay loose. The junior added two points on a 15-foot jumper, but was kept to the bench for the second half. Freshman Boo Wade had four points in 17 minutes of play, not committing a single turnover.
“I thought the other guys did a good job of keeping us in it,” Ryan said of his team. “It could’ve been uglier their in the first half.”
With Wednesday night’s win, the Badgers improve to a 3-2 record in conference, and sixth place in the Big Ten. Wisconsin is 13-4 overall and have won three in a row. The Badgers have a week off before facing Northwestern next Wednesday night at the Kohl Center.
” It’s great to have a little break,” Penney said. “But when you get a little roll going you want to keep it going … because it is a roll. But it’s fine, and it just gives us more time to prepare and concentrate.”