Wisconsin had lost three of its last four games against Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. However, they'll depart Iowa City victorious Saturday with an 11-point victory.
To no one's surprise, the Badgers were fueled by John Blackwell and John Tonje. The duo combined for 41 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while shooting 46.2 percent from the field. They were critical down the stretch, scoring 16 of Wisconsin's final 18 points.
The victory advanced the Badgers to 19-5 on the season and 9-4 in conference play. Here are our biggest takeaways from the contest:
Badgers weren't ready for Iowa's intensity
Kamari McGee said that Iowa didn't care about playing defense after Wisconsin's 116-85 win over the Hawkeyes on Jan. 4. That comment lingered on the minds of Iowa's players according to senior center Even Brauns, and it showed in the Hawkeyes' first-half hustle.
Iowa applied constant ball pressure in the halfcourt and blitzed Wisconsin's post players when they got the ball. The pressure caught Wisconsin off guard and yielded several turnovers. The Badgers, who average just 10.1 turnovers per game, committed four turnovers in the first eight minutes and six during the first half. The Hawkeyes turned those errors into nine points.
Wisconsin also surrendered five offensive rebounds during the first half, three of which came in the first seven minutes. While Iowa converted those additional opportunities into merely seven points, the combination of second chance points and points off turnovers were largely responsible for Wisconsin trailing at halftime.
John Tonje provides winning difference
Tonje led Wisconsin in points, assists and plus-minus Saturday. He was critical to the Badgers late push, scoring 10 straight points over 4.5 minutes to give Wisconsin a six-point lead with four minutes to play. He was unstoppable off the dribble, getting to the free throw line on four different occasions for a total of seven points.
The sixth-year senior has been one of the most impactful transfers in the country, and he's now scored at least 20 points in five of his last six games. That streak began immediately after being held scoreless during a 15-point win at USC. Since then, Tonje has averaged 23.0 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 49 percent from beyond the arc.
Wisconsin is close to upset proof
Winning in Iowa City is never easy, even when the Hawkeyes are without Owen Freeman. Wisconsin was able to pull off the victory in spite of an outlier second-half shooting performance. The Badgers started 4-for-20 from the field and 2-12 from 3-point range in the second half, but they still were able to claim the lead. Nolan Winter and Steven Crowl were all over the offensive glass, while the defense kept Josh Dix and Payton Sandfort scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the second period. It was a complete flip from the first half when Wisconsin found success from three-point range while struggling on defense and rebounding.
On its own, edging out a lower-tier Big Ten opponent on the road doesn't move the needle. However, the game was a microcosm of the Badgers season. Wisconsin can win games in several different ways, making it difficult for opponents to key in on one facet. In previous years, there were one or two ways to stop Wisconsin. In 2024-25, there is no blueprint for upsetting the Badgers.
That's been apparent on Wisconsin's resume. All five of the Badgers' losses have come in Quad 1 games, and they've lost just once at the Kohl Center -- to No. 24 Michigan by three points.