The Wisconsin Badgers overwhelmed the Iowa Hawkeyes 84-71 at the Kohl Center Sunday afternoon, as Nick Boyd led the Badgers with 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds
Boyd was outstanding for the Badgers, manipulating the Hawkeyes defense all afternoon with incredible court vision and using his patent first step to get to the basket with ease. Throughout the game, Boyd was relentless, refusing to give up on plays. He would get around his defender with ease which forced help defense, opening up the floor for 3-pointers.
Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp also had great performances against the Hawkeyes. Winter contributed 18 points while Rapp chipped in 14 points on 4-for-5 3-point shooting in his return to the floor after a nine-day absence.
Winter opened the game with a dunk from an Andrew Rohde pass, but despite the statement slam, Wisconsin fell behind early, a familiar trend for the Badgers all season.
Iowa, playing aggressively, maneuvered around a lackadaisical Badger defense, while their overwhelming defensive pressure allowed them to get more chances on the offensive end.
“They were kinda beating us up on the low block. Took some timeouts, coach got on us a little bit. That’s what we needed,” Winter said of Wisconsin’s first half struggles.
The Badgers crawled back and managed to take the lead largely in part to two huge 3-pointers from Rapp, which cut the score to 21-17.
After a half of struggling to fight through screens and allowing Iowa to dictate the pace offensively, Wisconsin went into half time only down one, with the hope that their worst basketball of the day was behind them.
After an Iowa 3-pointer opened the second half, Wisconsin quickly went on an 11-0 run, turning a 44-40 deficit into a 51-44 lead. During a turning point in the game, four different Badgers scored on the run.
Although the Badgers took the lead, Iowa’s smart offensive play made sure Wisconsin would have to work to maintain their advantage.
With Wisconsin leading 68-65 with six minutes remaining, Rapp added to his afternoon by hitting two more clutch 3-pointers over a 1:21 stretch. Along with some buckets from Blackwell and Boyd, the Badgers built a 13-point lead with four minutes to play.
Wisconsin iced the game when a dead ball technical foul on Iowa’s Isaia Howard sent Blackwell to the line. He hit all four shots.
Wisconsin has now won three of their last four games, and with another quality win, added to their compelling NCAA Tournament resume. As the Badgers near the end of the regular season, they hit the road for a two game West Coast trip to Oregon on Feb. 25. and Washington on Feb. 28.
