Wisconsin Hosts Iowa Basketball

Hawkeyes Head North Wednesday for B1G Matchup

Iowa’s Filip Rebraca (0) makes a move on Wisconsin’s Steven Crowl during their game on Dec. 11, 2022 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

Iowa’s 80-60 loss at Northwestern on Sunday night wasn’t a cause to put extra work on the Hawkeyes the day after.

It’s been a long season with a few crucial weeks left, coach Fran McCaffery said on Tuesday, so there was no need to overextend practice time.

“Yeah, I typically don’t go crazy with that kind of stuff,” McCaffery said. “You know, it depends on where the game falls. What's coming next? How much time do you have for rest?

“It's a long season, and I say this all the time. We start practice in June. So you don't accomplish much by having a four-hour (practice) … we never do that. So it’s a regular practice, watch the film, obviously move on to the next team, because you’ve got to start getting ready for them. So, it’s just business as usual.”

The Hawkeyes (17-10 overall, 9-7 Big Ten, 41 NET) play at Wisconsin (15-11, 7-9, 76 NET) on Wednesday, and with four games left in the regular season, followed by the Big Ten Tournament and the postseason, it’s not a time to go to extremes.

The loss to the Wildcats was magnified by Iowa’s 3-of-24 shooting in 3-pointers. But McCaffery pointed out that the Hawkeyes were 20-of-30 in 2-point shots, but the other big number that hurt was the 15 turnovers.

“We missed open threes,” McCaffery said. “It wasn’t anything they did defensively, it was turnovers, and we made defensive mistakes. We were not clicking defensively at all.”

It’s been a long time since the Hawkeyes have seen the Badgers — Wisconsin won 78-75 in overtime on December 11 in a game when Iowa leading scorer Kris Murray didn’t play.

“They’re not going to change much with what they do,” McCaffery said. “They have a system that's worked. Obviously a lot has happened between that (game) and now. But you know, we're different, too.”

Four Badgers average in double figures in scoring. Chucky Hepburn averages 12.5 points, Steven Crowl averages 11.7, Connor Essegian averages 11.5 and Tyler Wahl averages 11.3.

“Chucky is Chucky,” McCaffery said. “Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl, you kind of expect what to get from them. You’ve got Essegian, who’s a freshman, and (Max) Klesmit, who’s a transfer, so now they’ve had a little more time to blend in to what they’re doing.”

Essegian has either led or been second in scoring for the Badgers in six of their last eight games.

“I thought he was pretty good the first time around,” McCaffery said of Essegian, who had 14 against the Hawkeyes in the first matchup. “He’s only a freshman, and that (game) was early in his career. He’s a guy that plays like a veteran, even though he’s a freshman. He’s an absolute pure shooter, moves without the ball, competitive guy. And, he’s getting more minutes, so his numbers are going to go up.”