Iowa never saw it coming.
After scoring just 25 points on 31 percent shooting in the first half of Wednesday night's game against the Hawkeyes, the Wisconsin men's basketball team opened the second half with a 13-2 run and never looked back as the Badgers dominated Iowa for the final 20 minutes to emerge with a 74-61 victory at the Kohl Center.
\We came out with a little different look [in the second half] and we kind of caught them off guard,"" said UW sophomore guard Devin Harris, who scored a game-high 17 points.
Wisconsin's second-half domination started on the opening possession, as freshman forward Alando Tucker drove for a layup and gave the Badgers a 27-26 lead, just their third of the game. UW scored on its next three possessions - a three-pointer by senior guard Kirk Penney, a three-pointer by Harris and another three-pointer by Penney -and capped the explosive start with a steal and a slam dunk by Harris, which brought the home crowd to its feet.
""I'd love to tell you that it was something that I said at halftime,"" Badgers Head Coach Bo Ryan said. ""We just directed our comments to things that we had to correct, things where we needed help. [We'd] keep working for the good shots, they'll start going down.""
The shots continued to do just that, as Wisconsin (3-2 Big Ten, 13-4 overall) shot 65 percent from the field in the second half, more than doubling its field goal performance in the first half.
Still, Iowa (3-1, 10-4) continued to fight hard. Powered by their big men, the Hawkeyes cut the Badgers' lead to 55-50 with eight minutes left to play. Wisconsin wouldn't be denied, however, as junior guard Freddie Owens nailed a three-pointer to start a 17-4 run and put the game out of reach.
""Coming out of the second half, I think we executed so much better and the results spoke for themselves,"" said Penney, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half.
The Badgers were 20 for 31 from the field in the second half after shooting just nine of 29 attempts in the first 20 minutes. UW was also hot from beyond the arc, hitting 55 percent of its three-point attempts in the second half.
After being dominated in the low post for most of the first half, the Badgers scored 22 points in the paint the second half and sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson nabbed 10 defensive rebounds to stymie any second-chance opportunities for the Hawkeyes.
""I just thought we got outworked in the second half,"" Iowa Head Coach Steve Alford said. ""I thought our guys backed down instead of really fighting.""
Conversely, the Hawkeyes fought tooth and nail with Wisconsin in the first half, repeatedly shutting down the Badgers in the post while Iowa's big men flourished. Boosted by 20 points scored in the paint, Iowa took a 26-25 lead into the half, a lead which could have been much larger had it not been for 10 Hawkeyes turnovers.
""It could've been uglier there in the first half,"" Ryan said.
