The Badgers are back on the road for another Quad 1 chance on Saturday.
The Wisconsin Badgers won a second consecutive game over the Indiana Hoosiers in Madison this past Tuesday night in a 76-64 victory. Wisconsin got off to a very hot start and never looked back. The Badgers now look to Saturday when they head to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in what is yet another Quad 1 opportunity.
Here are three keys to a Badgers’ victory over the Hawkeyes on Saturday.
Don’t let them take easy threes
Iowa ranks second among all Big Ten teams in three-point percentage. This isn’t a surprise, as Fran McCaffrey-led teams are usually very talented offensively and more specifically from beyond the arc.
This means that Wisconsin’s guards and wings need to look out for guys like Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix, especially on ball screens. These two are extremely talented shooters and are the X-factors for the Hawkeyes. The Badgers cannot give them open and easy looks from deep.
Feed Nolan Winter and Steven Crowl in the post
Iowa isn’t a juggernaut defensively. That is well documented. They have struggled the most this season in the paint, where they rank dead last in two-point percentage allowed at 60 percent in conference play.
This means that Wisconsin’s twin towers of a frontcourt need to be given many opportunities and chances to go to work down low against an Iowa team that just lost their starting center, Owen Freeman. Wisconsin needs to take the looks they can get from three, but also need to realize that Iowa struggles mightily against opposing bigs.
Extend possessions with offensive boards
Iowa thrives on having as many possessions as possible in games. One way to counteract that is to crash the glass while on offense. Iowa has the second-worst percentage of offensive rebounds given up in the Big Ten play, so guys like Nolan Winter, Steven Crowl, and even Carter Gilmore should look out for easy opportunities to extend their possessions and slow the game down against this fast-paced Iowa squad.
The Badgers looked really good against Indiana and have started to play their best defensively in recent outings. I have Wisconsin winning in a similar fashion to Purdue this past week who beat Iowa 80-72 in Iowa City.
Final Prediction: 81-73 Wisconsin