Iowa Basketball Matchup First Look: Wisconsin

The Iowa Hawkeyes got things going last week with a pair of wins, including their NCAA-leading 5th win over a top-25 opponent and the largest victory by an opposing team in the Breslin Center since Tom Izzo took over in East Lansing. Now the Hawkeyes hit the road again for another major test as they travel to the always difficult Kohl Center to take on #21 Wisconsin.

The Badgers and Hawkeyes are separated by just a half game in the Big Ten standings with only a handful of games remaining on the schedule. Wisconsin enters the matchup trading wins and losses for the last month, going 4-4 dating back to a 68-52 win over Northwestern on January 20th.

That could be a bad omen for Iowa as Wisconsin dropped their matchup on Sunday with #3 Michigan 67-59. If the pattern holds, the Badgers are due for a victory. Can Iowa help snap their streak of alternating wins and losses by keeping their own two-game winning streak going?

As we get ready for Thursday’s matchup, here’s your first look at how Iowa stacks up with Wisconsin.

Matchup: #11 Iowa Hawkeyes (15-6, 9-5) at #21 Wisconsin Badgers (15-7, 9-6)
When: Thursday, February 18th at 6:00 pm CT
Where: Kohl Center - Madison, WI
TV: ESPN
Video Streaming: WatchESPN.com
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (click to find your local station)
Audio Streaming: TuneIn Radio

Statistical Overview

Iowa

Points Per Game: 87.4
Points Allowed Per Game: 73.5
Rebounds Per Game: 40.9
Assists Per Game: 19.8
Blocks Per Game: 4.4
Steals Per Game: 5.8

Wisconsin

Points Per Game: 70.3
Points Allowed Per Game: 62.6
Rebounds Per Game: 34.3
Assists Per Game: 13.2
Blocks Per Game: 3.9
Steals Per Game: 5.9

Statistical Leaders

Iowa

Scoring: Luka Garza 24.5 PPG
Rebounds: Luka Garza 8.4 RPG
Assists: Jordan Bohannon 4.6 APG

Wisconsin

Scoring: D’Mitrik Trice 13.6 PPG
Rebounds: Micah Potter 5.9 RPG
Assists: D’Mitrik Trice 3.7 APG

Advanced Stats

Adjusted Offense
IOWA 127.6 (1) WISCONSIN 112.5 (31)
Adjusted Defense
IOWA 98.8 (108) WISCONSIN 89.4 (9)
Adjusted Tempo
IOWA 69.9 (103) WISCONSIN 65.1 (319)
Adjusted Efficiency Margin
IOWA +28.81 (5) WISCONSIN +23.15 (13)

Projected Outcome

Final: Iowa 75, Wisconsin 74
Total Possessions: 67
Win Likelihood Percentage: 56%

Note: Advanced stats are taken from KenPom.com. National rankings are provided following each metric. Adjusted offense and defense metrics measure the points scored per 100 possessions, adjusted for quality of opponent, location and when it was played (more recent gets more weighting). Adjusted tempo is defined as total possessions divided by minutes, adjusted for schedule considering the preferred pace of each team.