Wisconsin basketball updated KenPom, ESPN BPI rankings after Iowa win

[ad_1]

Wisconsin basketball (19-5, 9-4 Big Ten) added another tally to its win column on Saturday afternoon with a 74-63 road triumph over Iowa.

The Badgers won the game on the defensive end, holding Iowa to just four points in the final 7:30 of action, including one basket in the last 4:30. That led to the Badgers’ extended 16-4 run to close the 11-point road win.

Star wing John Tonje, to no surprise, was the game’s other deciding factor. He scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half, led by a solo 7-0 run that became the game-winner.

Wisconsin has now stacked three consecutive victories, two of them on the road, over the last few weeks. That surge has eliminated any questions about the team’s ability to win in hostile territory, questions that existed after narrow road losses UCLA and Maryland.

The Badgers are also beginning to flash top defensive form to complement their already-elite offense. The KenPom metric agrees, as it has the team climbing toward the top 30 in defensive efficiency. For more, here is where Wisconsin now stands in both KenPom and ESPN’s BPI after the big road win over Iowa:

KenPom: No. 13 overall (no change) and No. 2 in the Big Ten. Led by the metric’s No. 9-ranked offense and No. 37-ranked defense. The team has also played against the 17th-toughest schedule in the sport.

ESPN’s BPI: No. 21 overall (up two spots) and No. 5 in the Big Ten, with a projected record of 23.5 – 7.5 and a 12% chance to win the Big Ten.

Wisconsin is back on the court next Saturday at Purdue (KenPom No. 7). The Badgers currently trail the first-place Boilermakers by just two games in the Big Ten standings. A win could put the Badgers in the driver’s seat to capture the conference crown with less than a month remaining in the regular season.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion

This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin basketball updated KenPom…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/wisconsin-basketball-updated-kenpom-espn-142704810.html

Author : Badgers Wire

Publish date : 2025-02-09 14:27:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.