The Wisconsin Badgers start key stretch with much-need win over Iowa
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MADISON – This was a start for Wisconsin coach Greg Gard and his players.
Down to four regular-season games remaining and needing any kind of victory to enhance their NCAA résumé, the Badgers defended exceptionally well at times, ran an efficient offense that led to a plethor of shots in the paint and hit just enough free throws to grind out an impressive 64-52 victory over Iowa Wednesday night at the Kohl Center.
The victory came four days after a crushing 58-57 home loss to Rutgers.
“The thing about this group is they’ve been very resilient,” Gard said. “They haven’t hung their heads. They haven’t pouted. They always bounce back and respond when they take on the chin a little bit.
“That is always a good sign as a coach that they keep coming back and want to learn and want to get better.”
The Badgers (16-11, 8-9 Big Ten) swept their rivals to move within one game of the .500 mark in league play.
Iowa (17-11, 9-8) was awful from three-point range for the second consecutive game. The Hawkeyes hit just 3 of 24 three-pointers (12.5%) in a 20-point loss Sunday at Northwestern and hit just 3 of 28 attempts (10.7%) in the loss to UW.
“I didn’t think the shots we took were bad,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “I think you always go back and say: Could we have worked the ball a little bit more, maybe gotten a post feed? But we typically let our guys go. We let them shoot the ball. I encourage them to shoot open threes.
“It was a frustrating night from that standpoint. That’s two games in a row where it just wasn’t dropping from three.”
Gard got contributions – big and small – from up and down his lineup.
BOX SCORE: Wisconsin 64, Iowa52
Connor Essegian, 0 of 7 from three-point range and 0 of 10 overall in the loss to Rutgers, hit 2 of 7 three-pointers and 5 of 13 shots overall against Iowa. He finished with 17 points and five rebounds.
Tyler Wahl, who scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds in UW’s overtime victory at Iowa, burned the Hawkeyes with 11 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, one steal and solid defense on Iowa’s Kris Murray. Those contributions more than made up for three first-half turnovers.
“(Tyler) was great today,” Steven Crowl said. “As you can see, his ankle is starting to get fully healthy. We’re starting to see the old Tyler we saw earlier this season.”
Chucky Hepburn contributed 12 points, five assists, four rebounds and just one turnover in a solid floor game. He played 18 minutes 58 seconds of the second half and had nine points, three assists and no turnovers to help UW pull away from a one-point halftime lead.
“Five assists, one turnover with the pressure that he saw?” Gard said. “And having to make decisions every time up the floor. I thought he was physical at the rim, trying to go through contact more. That is a good sign.”
Crowl sat out the final 15:28 of the opening half after picking up his second foul and played just 12:40 overall. Still, he finished with eight points and three rebounds
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Read More: The Wisconsin Badgers start key stretch with much-need win over Iowa 2023-02-23 06:00:00