Iowa State upsets Wisconsin, goes from 2-win season to Sweet 16

A year after winning just two games, Iowa State is moving on to the Sweet 16.

The Cyclones, the No. 11 seed in the Midwest region, upset No. 3 seed Wisconsin 54-49 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. And they did it in front of a largely pro-Wisconsin crowd on Sunday night in Milwaukee.

The Cyclones (22-12) had a 2-22 record in 2021 but have now won two games in the NCAA tournament in their first season with T.J. Otzelberger as head coach.

Gabe Kalscheur led the way for ISU in what was a physical, low-scoring game. Kalscheur led all scorers with 22 points on 10-of-19 from the field. Kalscheur accounted for half of his team’s field goal makes as the Cyclones shot just 34.5% (20/58) from the field.

And to account for how poorly it shot the ball, Iowa State played a lights-out game on defense.

The Cyclones limited Wisconsin to just 29.8% shooting, including a miserable 2-of-22 effort from beyond the arc. All-American Johnny Davis managed to score 17 points to lead the Badgers, but he did it on just 4-of-16 shooting and 0-of-7 from deep.

Nothing came easy for the Badgers as the Cyclones crowded every catch and did not allow Wisconsin’s players to run their offense with any freedom or fluidity.

Iowa State also benefited from a late first-half injury to Wisconsin point guard Chucky Hepburn, who went down with an ankle injury. Without Hepburn directing traffic, the Badgers had even more trouble running their offense as Brad Davison was forced to play on the ball and Davis was forced to shoulder an even heavier load than usual.

Iowa State took a 27-26 lead into halftime and was able to keep Wisconsin at an arm’s length throughout the second half. The ISU lead was single digits for most of the second half and grew to as large as 10, 50-40, with 4:17 to play.

Wisconsin made one last charge, twice cutting its deficit to five points, but just could not make any shots down the stretch to force overtime.

Historic turnaround for Iowa State

Iowa State will now move on to the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in program history. The Cyclones will meet No. 10 Miami, which upset No. 2 seed Auburn later Sunday.

It’s a remarkable — and historic — turnaround for a program that struggled at such an extreme level in 2021, going 2-22 without a single win in Big 12 play. Otzelberger, who had two stints as an ISU assistant before becoming head coach, managed to replenish the roster with transfers like Kalscheur (Minnesota), All-Big 12 guard Izaiah Brockington (Penn State) and a top-50 recruit in Tyrese Hunter.

Iowa State has had its struggles offensively throughout the year, particularly late in Big 12 play, but its defense carried it to an NCAA tournament bid. In the first round, the Cyclones upset No. 6 LSU in a similar style of game that finished 59-54.

Now the Cyclones are one of the 16 teams remaining in national title contention.

Extremely disappointing end for Wisconsin

With four of its top five scorers from 2021 moving on, Wisconsin was expected to take a big step back this season.

Instead, Greg Gard’s group managed to outperform its talent and win a share of the Big Ten regular season title. The ascendance of Davis from role player to All-American played a big role in the Badgers’ regular season triumph, as did the consistent production of Davison, junior forward Tyler Wahl and Hepburn at point guard.

But on this night, the Badgers just could not find the bottom of the net. Davis and Davison shot a combined 7-of-23 (1-of-10 from 3), Wahl was hampered by foul trouble and Hepburn played just 14 minutes due to injury. On top of that, center Steven Crowl scored just two points.

Wisconsin won so many close games throughout the season, but came out on the other side this time around. With the loss, the Badgers failed to get out of the first weekend for the third consecutive NCAA tournament.

In 2019, UW lost in the first round as a No. 5 seed. Last year, the Badgers were a No. 9 seed and lost in the second round to Baylor, a No. 1 seed that went on to win the national title. This year, Wisconsin was a No. 3 seed and fell to an 11 seed.

It’s a tough pill for Wisconsin fans to swallow especially with Davison’s career ending and Davis potentially entering the NBA draft.