Bohnenkamp: 5 Observations from Iowa's Loss at Wisconsin

Hawkeyes Fall in Madison Thursday Night

Jan 6, 2022; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Brad Davison (34) and Iowa Hawkeyes guard Connor McCaffery (30) fight for a rebound during the first half at the Kohl Center. (Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports)

Five observations from Iowa’s 87-78 loss at Wisconsin on Thursday night.

MURRAY VS. DAVIS

The showcase of this game was always going to be the battle of sophomores — Iowa’s Keegan Murray against Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis.

Neither disappointed. Murray finished with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while Davis had 26 on 10-of-18 shooting. Davis had nine rebounds, while Murray had five.

The difference was Davis had a lot of help from his teammates. Four other Badgers scored in double figures, led by Brad Davison’s 18.

Kris Murray, Keegan’s brother, had 12 points for Iowa. So did Jordan Bohannon (more on him in a few paragraphs). Patrick McCaffery had 10.

HAWKEYES COULDN’T REBOUND

Iowa’s three-game losing streak in early December was all about the Hawkeyes getting outrebounded.

That problem showed up again in this game. Wisconsin had a 43-26 edge, including a 15-6 edge in offensive rebounds.

Patrick McCaffery had seven rebounds to go with Murray’s five, but Filip Rebraca had just one rebound. Kris Murray came off the bench to get three.

For the Hawkeyes to be successful in the Big Ten for the rest of the season, the rebounding margin in games can’t be that lopsided.

THEY ALSO COULDN’T DEFEND

This was the most points scored by the Badgers in the rivalry since they had 95 against the Hawkeyes in 1994.

This is a Wisconsin team that can score, but the Badgers also shot 50 percent for the game. Their five starters were 31-of-53 (58.5 percent) from the field.

What was especially crushing was how Wisconsin started each half. The Badgers opened the game by making six of their first eight shots. Then, coming out of halftime with a 45-32 lead, they did the same.

Double-digit holes are never easy to recover from, but when you’re not getting stops it puts extraordinary pressure on the offense. And with Murray not getting much help, it was a recipe for a game getting away.

BOHANNON SHUT DOWN

It was a milestone night for Bohannon, who became the NCAA’s all-time leader in games played with 158.

But Bohannon struggled to get any offense going. Ten of his 12 points came in the second half, and he didn’t get his first shot until 6:23 left in the game. He also made just 3-of-6 free throws, an uncharacteristic struggle for him from the line.

A LONG WAY TO GO, BUT…

There are still 16 games left for the Hawkeyes in Big Ten play, but they fell to 1-3.

The schedule isn’t going to get easier. Iowa plays Indiana at home next Thursday, then faces back-to-back road games against Minnesota and Rutgers.