Wisconsin will be looking to bounce back at home after a disappointing road loss when the 24th-ranked Badgers face Iowa on Sunday in Madison, Wis.
After winning nine of its previous 11 games to move into the Top 25, Wisconsin (18-8, 10-5 Big Ten) lost 86-69 at Ohio State on Tuesday.
“Last week doesn’t matter,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said afterward. “You move on at one game at a time. We didn’t play well tonight.”
Iowa (19-7, 9-6) bounced back from consecutive losses to upset ninth-ranked Nebraska 57-52 on Tuesday in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes’ first win over a ranked opponent since 2024.
Wisconsin dropped into sixth place in the Big Ten, a game behind Nebraska and Michigan State with five conference games remaining. Iowa is one of three teams a game behind Wisconsin. The top four teams receive a triple bye directly into the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.
The Badgers, coming off back-to-back victories over then-No. 8 Illinois and then-No. 10 Michigan State, trailed 38-26 at the half against the Buckeyes and never recovered. The high-scoring Wisconsin backcourt of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell combined for 28 points, 11 below their combined average.
Wisconsin, 15-2 this season when making 10 or more 3-pointers, sank just 7 of 26 beyond the arc against Ohio State, including 1 of 8 in the first half.
“I thought right from the beginning, we did not have the same mentality to us, aggressiveness to us, physicality to us,” Gard said. “We didn’t have the same fight to us that we’ve had over the last two, three weeks.”
Wisconsin averages 83.1 points per game while allowing 76.0. Boyd puts up 20.3 points per game and Blackwell 18.8. Nolan Winter adds 13.6 points plus a team-high 8.9 rebounds, and he has 12 double-doubles.
The Badgers are 13-2 at home this season, while the Hawkeyes are 3-5 in true road games.
“Obviously they can really score it,” Iowa coach Ben McCollum said of the Badgers. “Their offense is, I think, probably top 10 in the country. They’ve had games where they just shockingly beat teams, whether it’s at Michigan, you know they did a really good job against Michigan State. They’ve had some big wins and some tough wins.”
Iowa held off Nebraska down the stretch after being tied 45-45 with just under seven minutes left. The result was the Hawkeyes’ first home victory over a Top 10 opponent since 2019.
Bennett Stirtz had a game-high 25 points for Iowa, the eighth 20-point game in his past nine contests. Tavion Banks matched his season high with 10 rebounds to pace the Hawkeyes to a 37-24 advantage on the glass, Iowa’s biggest rebounding margin in conference play this season.
Iowa averages 76.2 points per game while giving up 64.4, with the latter figure the best in the Big Ten and 10th nationally. Iowa is 15-1 when holding opponents to 69 points or fewer.
Stirtz averages 20.5 points per game and Banks adds 10.7 points and a team-high 4.8 rebounds.
Wisconsin has won six of its past seven meetings with Iowa dating back to the 2021-22 season. The Badgers swept the teams’ two matchups last season.
–Field Level Media
