Will Wisconsin ever play better or Iowa ever play worse than last week?

IOWA CITY - Rhetoric surrounding the Iowa men's basketball program lately has swirled around poked eyes, swollen necks and photographed ankles.

Center Adam Woodbury might get a little more scrutiny from officials after he touched the eyes of two Wisconsin players on Jan. 20. ESPN broadcaster Dan Dakich, who said Woodbury was 'gutless” and 'cowardly,” for his actions and prompted angry reactions from Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery, will call the game. He'll likely hear more than a few jeers from Iowa fans.

Iowa center Gabe Olaseni wore a walking boot on a campus bus Tuesday after suffering a sprained ankle in practice. Olaseni was photographed wearing the boot, and the picture went viral locally. More problematic for Iowa is leading scorer, Aaron White, remains questionable to play after suffering a neck stinger last week at Purdue.

The high-profile topics have shielded the most relevant questions over the last 10 years. Saturday, the Hawkeyes (13-7, 4-3 Big Ten) play host to No. 5 Wisconsin (18-2, 6-1 Big Ten) just 11 days after suffering an 82-50 shellacking at the Kohl Center. Lingering from that domination, two vital questions remain: One, can Iowa play any worse than it did that night? Two, can Wisconsin play any better?

It's a concern for both clubs.

'That was a very frustrating game to be a part of,” Iowa guard Mike Gesell said. 'We just felt that we couldn't do anything right. Defensively, we couldn't get stops. Offensively, we could not score. It's just one of those games.”

Wisconsin executed flawlessly, producing 16 assists and just one turnover. The Badgers shot 49.2 percent overall and 58.1 percent in the second half. Wisconsin limited Iowa to just six offensive rebounds and only 28 percent shooting in the first half. It was the Badgers' largest victory margin in the schools' 160-game series.

'It happens every once in a while in sports,” Wisconsin assistant coach Gary Close told Fox Sports Wisconsin. 'Things don't go right for one team and go perfect for another team. It was just like a perfect storm. I was shocked it happened then and don't expect it to happen again.”

For Iowa, the game was nothing short of a disaster. The 32-point blowout was Iowa's worst loss since a 34-point pounding at Michigan State in 2012. The Hawkeyes struggled in every area, from running a half-court offense to defending shooters. Nothing went right, which both McCaffery and his players realize.

'It was kind of the perfect storm that way,” McCaffery said. 'So we've got to do a better job defensively. We've got to do a better job with offensive execution, we've got to do a better job on the glass. We've got to do a better job taking away the 3. They shoot it so well.

'But offensively we were as bad as we've been, I thought, in that game. You've got to credit their defense, but we got a little impatient at times, tried to go a little one on one at times when we didn't really need to, and we've got to do a better job there.”

The Big Ten-leading Badgers have won four straight in a century-long rivalry that has grown in intensity since McCaffery took over five years ago. While Wisconsin leads the series all-time 81-79, the blowout was an aberration to the usual tight games between the border foes. The average margin-of-victory of the seven games preceding last week's blowout was 3.9 points.

'No one on this team thinks that they're anything special,” Olaseni said of the Badgers. 'Obviously, we believe that we're the best team in the country. We feel as though we're a very good team.”

Olaseni then clarified his quote.

'I mean that they're not special as in like they're not an NBA team playing, we shouldn't look up to them. They're college kids, just like us. That's what I meant.”

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