Takeaways as Iowa basketball drops frustrating game vs. Wisconsin

Well, that was certainly a letdown.

Coming off the high of knocking off a top-ten Nebraska team on Tuesday, the Iowa basketball team hit the road for a tough matchup with Wisconsin. After a back-and-forth first half, the Badgers were the ones who pulled away in the second half to pick up an 84-71 win.

Advertisement

For the Hawkeyes, it was a frustrating afternoon and result that dropped them to 19-8 overall and 9-7 in Big Ten play. With just four games remaining in the regular season, Ben McCollum’s team finds itself firmly on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, in desperate need of wins. And they have some things to work on before Wednesday night’s game against Ohio State.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Iowa’s disappointing loss to Wisconsin on Sunday.

The defense wasn’t good enough

Strong defense has normally been a staple for McCollum-coached teams, including Iowa this season. That wasn’t the case on Sunday. The Hawkeyes surrendered a season-high 84 points, allowing the Badgers to shoot 54% from the field and 42% from three. They forced just eight turnovers, and couldn’t get the crucial stop in the second half to swing the momentum.

Advertisement

Nick Boyd did whatever he wanted to for Wisconsin, finishing with 27 points, nine rebounds, and ten assists. He got the basket at will and gave the Iowa defense fits all game long. Iowa is capable of much better defense than they showed against Wisconsin, and they’ll need that defense to show up the rest of the season. The Hawkeyes don’t possess enough firepower to overcome poor defensive play. That side of the ball needs to respond on Wednesday.

Tate Sage provides a spark

Tate Sage has provided some good moments off the bench this season, and the freshman forward looked especially good on Sunday. He finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. He was active and attentive on both sides of the ball and brought a ton of energy to a team that really needed it.

With some of the struggles from other…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/takeaways-iowa-basketball-drops-frustrating-160054958.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-02-23 16:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.