Wisconsin blasts Iowa by 32 points

MADISON, Wis. - With first place at stake in the Big Ten, Iowa's men's basketball team left its frozen offense on the bus waiting outside the warm Kohl Center last night.

It took too long to heat up, and the Hawkeyes never completely thawed out in a 82-50 beatdown to No. 6 Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes scored 17 points in the first half, and that was accomplished only with a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer.

It was a first half marred with poor offensive execution by Iowa (13-6, 4-2 Big Ten) and crisp 3-point shooting by the Badgers (17-2, 5-1). The Hawkeyes hit just 28 percent from the floor (7 of 25) and were grinded into submission with only four second-chance possessions.

It was vicious out of the gate. With the score tied 4-4, Wisconsin center Fran Kaminsky hit a 3-pointer to trigger to push the Badgers up 7-4 run. Iowa's Adam Woodbury missed inside and Wisconsin guard Bronson Koenig drilled a 3-pointer. One possession later, Josh Gasser knocked down a 3-pointer to boost the Badgers' lead to 13-4.

'We didn't start the game off with any of the emphasis that we worked on the past two days,” Iowa senior Aaron White said. 'Open 3s, if they weren't making them, they were getting them back. Just all around really bad game by us.”

'I thougth we broke down,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'They're an excellent 3-point shooting team. They're also a very good one-on-one team. They spread you, they go. We stayed a little longer than we probably should have with our help. We didn't recover quickly enough, we didn't rotate quickly enough.

'That's not how you want to start obviously.”

Midway through the first half Iowa pulled with seven points after freshman Dominque Uhl scored on consecutive possessions. But it turned out to be a mirage of hope for the Hawkeyes.

The Badgers unleashed a 17-3 run lasted until the half's final second. Wisconsin scored on nine of 13 possessions, while Iowa managed only a free throw and a dunk from Aaron White.

Wisconsin was nearly perfect in the second half and scored on 10 of its first 12 possessions. The Badgers built a 28-point lead with 11:19 left and sank nearly 60 percent of its shots from the floor in the second half.

'I don't think we expected to play like the way we played tonight,” McCaffery said. 'I think that's safe to say. We didn't play a good game, we didn't play a game that's typical of who we are, but also we played a really good team that played really well. I think you have to be respectful of that. That was part of it. We did some of it to ourselves, and they did some of it to us. That's what happens, especially when you go on the road in his league.”

In a high-profile battle of top frontcourts, Wisconsin had the final advantage. Iowa's center tandem of Adam Woodbury and Gabe Olaseni combined for one point, took only two shots and grabbed just seven rebounds. Kaminsky, a preseason All-American, scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Wisconsin had 16 assists on its 29 baskets. Iowa had seven assists on its 29 buckets.

Iowa junior forward Jarrod Uthoff, who transferred from Wisconsin three years ago, led the Hawkeyes with 12 points. White added seven points. Sam Dekker led the Badgers with 17 points and Nigel Hayes added 16. Wisconsin out-rebounded Iowa 37-24 and committed just one turnover, a shot-clock violation on the second half's first possession.

It was the largest margin-of-victory for Wisconsin in the series' 160-game history, which the Badgers lead 81-79. Wisconsin has won the last four in the series and the teams play again Jan. 31 in Iowa City.

Wisconsin now is tied with Maryland atop the Big Ten standings. Iowa opened Big Ten play at 4-2 for the second consecutive season.

Saturday, Iowa plays at Purdue, where it hasn't won in its last six tries.

'Whether it's a win or loss, it's one game,” White said. 'The old saying, never get too high, never get too low, is perfect for an example like this. We've got to put it in the back of our heads and get ready for a tough team on the road again.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com