So maybe that explains the Hawkeyes unfathomable 72-65 victory at the Kohl Center earlier this season. It was Murphy’s Game for the Badgers — everything that could go wrong, did. The Badgers missed 25 of 28 three-pointers. Two Iowa bench players scored in double figures while shooting over 50%. The entire Hawkeye team shot just under 50% on the Kohl Center court. Iowa corralled 11 offensive and 40 total rebounds. It was, to be sure, less than a typical Badger performance.

Dec. 31, 2011; Madison, WI, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Bryce Cartwright (24) looks to pass the ball as Wisconsin guard Jordan Taylor (left) defends at the Kohl Center. Iowa defeated Wisconsin 72-65. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-US PRESSWIRE

If it weren’t for the Badgers somehow pulling out a 50-45 win despite shooting just 15-for-48 January 15th against Nebraska, the Iowa loss would have contention for the blackest mark and the most embarrassing of Wisconsin’s shooting woes this season. But the Badgers’ struggles against Iowa — which included a staggering 3-for-28 mark on three-pointers — will go down as the season’s ugliest loss regardless of what happens Thursday in Iowa City. Given the precedent set at the Kohl Center, it was an unacceptable performance. The Hawkeyes are one of the worst teams in the league at defending the shot from the field, whether it comes from two (50.1%) or three (35%).

And to make matters worse, the Hawkeyes couldn’t miss. Specifically, Bryce Cartwright (7-for-12) and Aaron White (6-for-7) came out of nowhere to make a huge impact off the bench. Behind those efforts as well as a solid game from Melsahn Basabe (6-for-11), Iowa sunk 27-of-53 two-point shots against a Wisconsin team that has held opponents to just 40.8% from inside the arc this season. Only Kentucky, Connecticut, Kansas and Louisville boast higher marks; only Michigan State has been superior in conference play.

Yet despite the horrific nature of the Badgers’ play back on December 28th — a time when Madison was concerned more with Pasadena than Big Ten basketball — the Badgers were competitive until the final minute and fell by just seven points. It is an unacceptable loss, to be sure, but should the Badgers fear the Hawkeyes? Iowa has been far superior in conference play than they were in the non-conference season (when they fell to teams like Campbell and Northern Iowa) and are now coming off a defeat of Indiana. However, if the Badgers can fix just one of their problem areas from the first meeting — defending the two-point shot or hitting the three-point version — the result should be a victory.

Things have rarely come easily for the Badgers this year, and things rarely come easily on the road in the Big Ten. It will be no different Thursday night as the Badgers look to tip the scales of the Wisconsin-Iowa rivalry in their favor, if only for a few months.

Photo Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

The Badgers head into The Barn in Minneapolis with a 5-2 road record, their best road effort since winning the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament titles in 2008. Including the two easy victories against Bradley and BYU in the Badgers’ romp to the Chicago Invitational Tournament title in December, the Badgers are 7-2 away from the Kohl Center and have largely played excellent basketball in doing so. The Badgers were throttled in a 59-41 loss to Michigan to close out a three-game losing streak in the opening days of conference play, but the other loss, at North Carolina, was close the entire way, including a Badgers’ lead in the second half, ending as a three-point game. Wisconsin has solid victories at Illinois and Purdue and has avoided the typical disappointing road loss to a bad or mediocre team — at Penn State in 2011, at Minnesota in 2010, etc.

Given the quality of these wins and the lack of major blemishes, it should come as little surprise the Badgers rank highly when judged just on their road record. Perhaps it does surprise, however, that they come in at an astronomical fifth place according to the method of TeamRankings.com. That does not include their two neutral court victories, which place them tied atop the neutral court rankings with Creighton.

The Badgers get a moderate test Thursday against Minnesota, which as a middle-of-the-road Big Ten team is likely among the nation’s top 50 squads and well in the mix for a tournament berth. The latter half of February also includes trips to Michigan State and Ohio State, needed victories as Wisconsin clings to the tiniest of hopes at a Big Ten regular season title. Chances are one stretch of nine games away from the Kohl Center aren’t proof the Badgers have all of a sudden conquered any road demons, and a 11-4 home record in one of the Big Ten’s toughest years since its inception probably isn’t proof “Kohl Center magic” has run its course either.

At the least, though, it is a good sign for Wisconsin that in a year in which the shots aren’t falling and the wins aren’t stacking up at home, the Badgers have managed to take care of business away from home. And, of course, we all know none of the comforts of home await teams at the NCAA Tournament.

Feb 4, 2012; Madison, WI, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Jared Sullinger (0) shoots over Wisconsin Badgers guard-forward Ryan Evans (5) during the second half at the Kohl Center. Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 58-52. Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

The Badgers were only favored by eight points by the scorebooks at Penn State, and before a Tim Frazier layup in the final seconds made it 52-46, the Badgers had the spread covered evenly. The six-point deficit against Ohio State was just 2.5 points higher than Vegas expected as well — essentially, the Badgers did essentially what they were expecting this week.

This is hardly a comforting notion for Wisconsin players, coaches, or fans, of course. A promising six-game winning streak has come to a close, the Buckeyes dealt with the Kohl Center for the first time since 2000, and the Badgers’ chances of winning the Big Ten regular season title have dropped to just 1.3% according to the projections at TeamRankings.com

The upcoming week contains one game but one the Badgers likely need to win to maintain their chances at a top-three seed for the conference tournament and a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament: at Minnesota on Thursday night. The Gophers have been solid after opening the conference season 0-4 and have rebounded nicely to enter the week at 5-6 in the conference.