Top Iowa basketball moments of 2011-12: No. 3 vs. Wisconsin I

Iowa's 72-65 win against No. 11 Wisconsin on Dec. 31 provided the Big Ten season's first head-turning, eye-blinking moment. The Hawkeyes had lost nine straight in Madison and all of the losses were decisive.

Throughout January fans and media couldn't decide if the win meant Iowa was improving or if Wisconsin was falling apart. At season's end, Iowa had a winning record and Wisconsin was two points shy of the Elite Eight. Iowa's 72 points also were the most points allowed by the Badgers in a game this season.

What happened?

Iowa started strong, taking a 10-2 lead five minutes into the game. The Hawkeyes held the advantage early, although the Badgers took the lead with 5:17 left in the first half. Iowa rallied and the score was tied 31-31 at halftime.

Wisconsin built a seven-point lead early in the second half, but Iowa freshman Aaron White sparked a rally with a 3-pointer, a pair of free throws and later a tip-in from a Devyn Marble miss to tie the game at 40-40.

The Hawkeyes outscored the Badgers 33-14 over a 13:24 second-half time frame to lead by 12 points with 3:35 left in the game. The Hawkeyes held on for the victory.

Key play/series

The momentum turned against Iowa in the final minutes when sophomore Melsahn Basabe was whistled for a technical foul with 3:24 left. The Badgers went on a 7-2 run to cut their deficit to six points with 2:18 left.

That's when Iowa's guard trio of Marble, Bryce Cartwright and Matt Gatens stepped up. Cartwright scored on a layup to end Wisconsin's run. When the Badgers chopped Iowa's lead to 68-65 with 47 seconds left, Marble hit a jumper to push it back to five. Gatens closed out the game with a pair of free throws.

"We put our best offensive guys on the floor and we pushed it, spread it and (shot) the ball," Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

Wisconsin did have an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance. The Badgers made just 3-of-28 3-point attempts, and just 1-of-14 in the second half.

"Just one of those days," Wisconsin center Jared Berggren said. "You can't really explain it."

Game MVP

Cartwright played his best regular-season game that afternoon, knocking down 7-of-12 shots. He scored 17 points, dished five assists and had only one turnover in 31 minutes.

"We encouraged him to push the basketball and create some tempo and essentially control the game," McCaffery said.

Game's significance

For Iowa, the game meant more than just a victory; it was a statement. Iowa's non-conference season was disappointing, especially with five losses in a seven-game stretch. The win against Wisconsin erased the players' lingering doubt from double-digit losses to Campbell, Creighton, Clemson, Northern Iowa and Iowa State.

The win also was important because of the opponent. Wisconsin had out-recruited Iowa for two players in the Cedar Rapids area (Jason Bohannon and Jarrod Uthoff) and snapped up a signed recruit (Ben Brust) during a coaching change.

"This was the 11th-ranked team in the country on the road with a fabulous winning percentage here," McCaffery said. "So I think our players understood what they had to overcome to make this happen. From that standpoint, I'm certainly proud of my team."

Quotable

"The Big Ten's going to be like this the whole year," Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan said. "I just think there are so many teams that are equal. If you have a cold night, you're not going to walk away (with a win)."

Honorable mention

Iowa ended a six-game road losing streak to beat Nebraska 62-53 on Feb. 29. After a forgettable first half that saw Iowa lead 23-19, the Hawkeyes put together a 10-0 run in the mid-second half to take a comfortable 14-point lead that was never seriously threatened.