Key takeaways from Iowa basketball’s loss at Wisconsin
After an 83-72 loss against Wisconsin in Madison, Iowa drops to 8-6 (0-3 Big Ten) on the season.
Afterwards, Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery shared some of his immediate thoughts on what transpired versus the Badgers.
“We have to play better than we’ve played in these first three games. We lost to three really good teams. We have to not foul as much and not turn it over as much. We’re doing some things that make it hard. We’re doing some good things. I’m proud of that. We’ve got to be able to focus on the good things we did tonight and correct some of the things that need to be corrected,” McCaffery said.
What were some of the key takeaways from Iowa’s setback? Let’s dive in below.
Iowa didn't sustain its solid start
After the way the end of the first half went and after the way that the second half played out, fans are forgiven if they’ve forgotten this: Iowa actually got off to a nice start on the road in this one.
In the land of glass half-empties or glass half-fulls, here’s your conundrum. Is this a positive thing or a negative thing?
For where Iowa is at in the current moment, there probably have to be some form of miniature victories or what the more critical would refer to as moral victories.
Iowa jumped on Wisconsin, 11-4, quickly behind an opening and-1 from redshirt senior forward Patrick McCaffery, a pair of free throws from senior guard Tony Perkins and made 3-pointers from graduate forward Ben Krikke and junior forward Payton Sandfort.
The Hawkeyes held a pair of six-point leads at 16-10 with 12:53 remaining in the first half and 32-26 with 2:07 remaining in the opening half. But, Iowa couldn’t make it hold up from there. Wisconsin closed the first half on a 6-0 run and then ran away in the final 12 minutes of the second half.
Iowa couldn't defend without fouling after halftime
In particular, Wisconsin graduate forward Tyler Wahl gave Iowa all sorts of problems. Over the course of the night, the 6-foot-9, 225 pound big drew nine Hawkeye fouls.
Wahl made it pay off, too, as he drained 11-of-13 free throws and finished with 19 points. Fellow Badger big Steven Crowl had 14 points and 13 rebounds to collect a double-double. The junior forward stepped out and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers after halftime to help spark a 51-point second half for Wisconsin.
Across the board, it was Iowa’s inability to guard without fouling that got it into trouble after the break. Wisconsin knocked down 20-of-26 free throws in the second half and shot 35 compared to Iowa’s 16 in the game.
Tony Perkins led all scorers
Back to the little victories department, that’s the type of play Iowa needs from Perkins.
The 6-foot-4 guard delivered a game-high and season-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 from downtown. The Indianapolis native also knocked down 7-of-9 from the charity stripe, pulled down four rebounds, came away with three steals and handed out a pair of assists.
Owen Freeman is going to be a player
Iowa fans have to love what they’re seeing from freshman forward Owen Freeman. The Moline product registered his second career double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting. He also blocked three shots, had a steal and one assist.
Freeman is the first freshman since Luka Garza to post multiple double-doubles and it is already Freeman’s sixth game with at least three blocks. It’s also Freeman’s fifth game with seven or more boards. His 36 minutes were the most by a Hawkeye thus far this season.
At times, he looked like Iowa’s best player. In a season that isn’t going according to plan just yet, the Hawkeyes’ future hopes show some promise in the form of this young big from Illinois.
The fan base is getting restless with Patrick McCaffery
Judging by the responses on social media, the Iowa fan base is looking for more out of Patrick McCaffery.
McCaffery finished with five points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point distance. He did add four assists, three rebounds and one steal, but, at times, it felt and looked like McCaffery was going through the motions out there.
In games against Power Six squads, McCaffery is averaging 6.9 points per game on 33.3% field goal shooting and just 15.8% 3-point shooting.
If these numbers don’t improve, Iowa will have to look to other options and the Hawkeyes don’t have much time to wait around either.
0-3 means it's time to start winning in a hurry
How about a no-duh statement? Iowa needs to start winning basketball games or this team can kiss its NCAA Tournament hopes goodbye.
Sitting in an 0-3 hole to start Big Ten play, it’s time to get things turned around in a hurry. Iowa hosts Rutgers on Saturday morning and then hosts Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 12. Each of those two games are now must-gets.
After that, the Hawkeyes head to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota on Monday, Jan. 15 before No. 1 Purdue comes calling to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, Jan. 20.
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