All Badgers

Wisconsin men's basketball win an overtime thriller at Iowa 78-75

The Wisconsin Badgers secure a big three-point road win against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.

Matt Belz

In this story:

After winning back-to-back games against Marquette and Maryland, the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team entered Sunday's Big Ten contest against Iowa as 4.5-point underdogs at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

Looking to make it three straight wins, the Badgers battled all game long and eventually came away with a 78-75 win that featured overtime and plenty of excitement. 

Here is a look back at Wisconsin's overtime win at Iowa to improve to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. 

Contents

  1. Game recap
  2. Players of note
  3. Instant Analysis
  4. Photos of the game
  5. Up next

Game recap

On the road, the Badgers would jump out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to consecutive made layups by Steven Crowl near the hoop. After multiple minutes with both teams struggling to score, Tyler Wahl would end the scoring drought with another layup for Wisconsin, while Connor McCaffery would hit a three for the Hawkeyes to make it a 6-3 lead for UW at the first media timeout.

Wisconsin's strong defensive effort would continue after the brief break. The Badgers would add to their lead with made shots from Max Klesmit and Connor Essegian to make it 10-5 with 12 minutes remaining. 

Patrick McCaffery would spearhead a Hawkeye 3-0 run over the next minute of play to shrink Wisconsin's advantage to just two points. Carter Gilmore would find the bottom of the net on the other end of the court for the Badgers on a left-handed hook shot moments later, and then it was freshman Connor Essegian connecting on a three to push Wisconsin's lead to 15-8. 

Iowa would respond with a pair of threes and a 6-0 run to trim the deficit back to just one point with 7:29 remaining in the first half. 

With Max Klesmit already on the bench with two fouls for Wisconsin, Steven Crowl would make an easy shot to bolster the UW lead, but then get called for a foul on the next offensive possession to pick up his second of the game and send him to the bench as well. 

Over the next minute of action, Filip Rebraca and Tyler Wahl would trade buckets, but then Tony Perkins of Iowa would deliver a big three-pointer to tie the game up at 19 points apiece with 4:40 left in the first half. 

Layups by Chucky Hepburn and Carter Gilmore would help the Badgers regain a 4-point advantage shortly thereafter, and then Tyler Wahl would push the UW lead to six points with just under three minutes remaining on the clock. 

The Hawkeyes would answer with an 8-0 run of their own to grab their first lead of the game late in the first half, but Wisconsin point guard Chucky Hepburn would hit a last-second jumper to tie the game up, 27-27 at halftime. 

In the early part of the second half, the Badgers would reestablish a lead within the first minute of play on a layup by Max Klesmit, and a nice shot in the post by Steven Crowl. Patrick McCaffery would connect on a three-pointer to draw the Hawkeyes back within one on the next possession though and jumpstart a 10-0 run for Iowa to grab a 37-31 advantage just over three minutes into the second half. 

Following a timeout by Greg Gard, the Badgers would put together a run of their own with Tyler Wahl, Chucky Hepburn, and Jordan Davis all getting involved and leading Wisconsin back into the game with three made shots in a row. By the first media timeout, UW had pulled within one point, 39-38. 

Following two free throws by the Hawkeyes, Tyler Wahl would make a layup to keep the game close, but Iowa would eventually open up a 4-point lead thanks to a three-point play by Tony Perkins in transition at the 11:41 mark. 

Despite a putback by Carter Gilmore, Tony Perkins would extend the Iowa lead further with consecutive layups in the lane. However, the Badgers would string together some offense with an explosive 9-0 run to give Wisconsin a 51-48 lead, as the Hawkeyes slipped into a four-minute scoring drought. 

With the Hawkeyes needing to slow Wisconsin's momentum, Connor McCaffery would step up with a layup for the Hawkeyes, and from there the two teams would exchange baskets over the next minute of action to make it a one-point affair. 

A Steven Crowl hook shot off the glass in the post and a technical foul on Fran McCaffery with just over four minutes remaining would allow the Badgers to continue to secure a 57-52 lead with three minutes to play. 

From there, freshman guard Connor Essegian would deliver a cold-blooded three with two minutes remaining to give Wisconsin an 8-point edge. The Hawkeyes would come storming back over the final minute of play to tie the game up at 60 however, as Iowa got a steal off Essegian and a huge three with just over nine seconds to go. Chucky Hepburn would fail to make the final shot of regulation, to send the game to overtime. 

Following the shocking shift in momentum, both Iowa and Wisconsin would find their rhythm on offense. Iowa turned to the McCaffery brothers, while Tyler Wahl and Connor Essegian would keep the Badgers in the game with a pair of two-point makes. Two minutes into overtime, Iowa possessed a 67-64 advantage, but Tyler Wahl would trim it to just a point with 2:40 remaining with two free throws. 

Tony Perkins would push the lead back to three in favor of Iowa, but a Tyler Wahl three would tie the game up seconds later, before three-point plays by Patrick McCaffery (Iowa) and Jordan Davis (UW) would ultimately make it 72-72 with a minute and a half to play in Iowa City. 

Steven Crowl would later give the Badgers a narrow lead with under a minute remaining with a tough shot in the lane with the shot clock expiring, and then it was a critical steal by Chucky Hepburn that would lead to a pair of free throws to give Wisconsin a three-point edge with 20 seconds remaining. 

Even with Tyler Wahl missing back-to-back free throws, the Badgers would hold on over the final seconds to leave Iowa City with a huge 78-75 win, as Patrick McCaffery missed an opportunity to send it to double-overtime with a missed three attempt. 

Players of note

  • Tyler Wahl (Wisconsin)

Stats: 21 points (9-of-14 shooting), seven rebounds, and three assists in 40 minutes

Coming in as Wisconsin's leading scorer on the year, Tyler Wahl put together another strong performance against Iowa on Sunday. The senior forward was the focal point of the offense in the second half at times and once again led the team with 21 points and seven rebounds, while also dishing out three assists in the game. Wahl had a great game last year against the Hawkeyes, and he played excellently on Sunday night. 

  • Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin)

Stats: 11 points (4-of-12 shooting), six rebounds, and four assists in 41 minutes

Chucky Hepburn got off to a rather slow start against Iowa, but the sophomore point guard stepped up on multiple occasions to help the Badgers out, including a last-second jumper before halftime and a critical steal late in the game. While he did not maintain his hot shooting from three in the game, Hepburn did finish with six rebounds and four assists in the game. 

  • Steven Crowl (Wisconsin)

Stats: 12 points (6-of-11 shooting), six rebounds, and seven assists in 28 minutes

Despite only playing seven minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, Steven Crowl came up big for the Badgers with six points, three rebounds, and two assists in limited minutes. 

Crowl was limited to just 28 minutes in the game as a result, but he still managed to play well with double-digit points and six rebounds to go with seven assists. Crowl had a significant shot late in the game that helped seal the win, and he played tough against Iowa's frontline.  

  • Patrick McCaffery (Iowa)

Stats: 24 points (8-of-16 shooting), and seven rebounds in 33 minutes

Playing without star forward Kris Murray, Patrick McCaffery carried the scoring load for Iowa on Sunday. While the Hawkeyes could not ultimately get the job done, McCaffery led Iowa in points and also had seven rebounds. 

Instant Analysis

This was a wild game from the second half on. 

Wisconsin did an excellent job in the first half of dictating the pace of the game and holding an Iowa team that likes to shoot threes to only 4-of-15 from deep. Based on their strong defensive start, the Badgers were able to grab an early lead in the game and managed to stay even with the Hawkeyes by halftime despite struggling from three at just 1-of-11 from long-range. 

However, Iowa was able to grab a six-point lead early in the second half, but Wisconsin just continued to hang around. The Badgers would put together a key 9-0 run midway through the second half that featured four different players scoring and some improved defense that completely altered the game and made it seem like Wisconsin would finish strong in regulation. 

But the Badgers uncharacteristically could not execute over the final minute of the second half, which opened the door for Iowa to make a miraculous 8-point comeback in just 45 seconds. While that brief stretch at the end of regulation was not pretty, the fact that Wisconsin responded in overtime with all the momentum pointing toward Iowa was incredibly impressive. 

The Badgers got 22 points and 10 rebounds off the bench from Carter Gilmore and Connor Essegian, with each player making pivotal plays that helped UW steal the win. 

Wisconsin is now 5-2 in games decided by less than five points this season, and credit to Tyler Wahl and the Badgers for closing the game out with six-straight made baskets. While the Badgers had the luxury of Kris Murray sitting on the bench for Iowa, this is a significant road win for UW and one that will prove important later in the year. 

Photos of the game

Connor Essegian / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian dunking the basketball in overtime against Iowa. 

Tyler Wahl / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Tyler Wahl attempting to score inside against Iowa. 

Chucky Hepburn / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn driving to the rim against Iowa. 

Steven Crowl / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin center Steven Crowl attempting to grab a rebound against Iowa. 

Carter Gilmore / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin forward Carter Gilmore shooting a three against Iowa. 

Greg Gard / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard near the bench against Iowa. 

Fran McCaffery / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery pleading with a referee against Wisconsin. 

Up next

The Badgers will head back home for the first of four straight games at the Kohl Center over the holidays. Wisconsin will host Lehigh on Thursday, December 15. The game will be aired on Big Ten Network and tip time will be at 6 p.m. CST.

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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