Hawkeyes Tip Off B1G Campaign Against Wisconsin

Badgers Basketball Visits Iowa Sunday Night

Iowa’s Tony Perkins (11) celebrates making a basket against Iowa State on Dec. 8, 2022 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

There is already chaos in the Big Ten men’s basketball standings, and it’s only been the first couple of weeks of league play.

Iowa gets its first taste that with Sunday’s 5:30 p.m. game against Wisconsin at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but in a league where Illinois can be No. 17 in the nation and 0-2 in conference, it’s a sign that this could be another wild season.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said on Saturday that’s nothing new.

“Any time you played anybody in this league, you were in a fist fight (against a team) with a really good player and a really good coach,” McCaffery said.

But McCaffery thinks his team is in a good place to handle all of that, given the Hawkeyes’ experience.

“There’s no substitute for it,” McCaffery said. “You go through this league, everybody plays differently. So you’re pretty much going to see everything in the course of a year or so. One year itself is just a tremendous amount of experience.”

The Hawkeyes (7-2) will be without injured forward Kris Murray, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, for Sunday’s game, and perhaps a while longer. So McCaffery will have to go deep into his bench, and that will mean more minutes for everyone, including freshman guards Josh Dix and Dasonte Bowen.

“I’ve got two really good freshmen, and I’ve got to get them more playing time because they’re terrific,” McCaffery said. “I went with the veteran guys down the stretch in a tough rivalry game (a 75-56 win over Iowa State on Thursday). We’ve got a league game tomorrow against a tough, physical team. We’re going to need everybody, especially with Kris out.”

Murray is out with a lower left leg injury. McCaffery said he had no other update on Murray on Saturday, expect to say he won’t play in Sunday’s game.

The Badgers (7-2, 1-0 Big Ten) look like they always do. Three players average in double figures in scoring, with Tyler Wahl leading the way at 13.9 points per game.

Wisconsin has a home loss to Wake Forest and an overtime loss to Kansas, but has won back-to-back games, winning in overtime at Marquette before defeating Maryland 64-59 in Tuesday’s Big Ten opener.

“It’s pretty much what you see from them all of the time,” McCaffery said. “They’ve got good players. You’ve got Chucky (Hepburn, who averages 12.6 points), Tyler Wahl, and (Steven) Crowl playing at a high level. They move it, they share it, they run their stuff. Pretty much same as usual.”

Wisconsin has given up just 59.8 points per game. The Hawkeyes are averaging 82.4.

“It always comes down to ball movement,” McCaffery said of how to play the Badgers. “You react to (their defense). You move it, you get the defense shifted, you get the defense moving, and you drive it. It’s all about decisions and unselfish play.”

Big Ten play is here.

“I think you’re probably right, there may be more parity than ever,” McCaffery said. “But I have looked at it as there’s always been parity.

“Any time you win, it’s a cause for celebration. It really is. … Every team is really good.”