After getting the conference season off to a promising start with a decisive road victory over Nebraska, 11th-ranked Wisconsin men's basketball (1-1 Big Ten, 12-3 overall) laid an egg on Saturday, losing their Big Ten home opener to Iowa (1-1 Big Ten, 9-6 overall) by a final score of 72-65.
While many will point to Wisconsin's 3-of-28 performance from beyond the three-point line, the Badgers' first losing conference home opener in 12 years was the result of poor transition defense. After making defense a hallmark of their game throughout the non-conference schedule, UW allowed Iowa to score 14 points on fast break opportunities, with the Badgers only managing to notch two of their own.
UW's lack of depth was on clear display as they struggled from the get-go and couldnt turn to a viable alternative on the bench. Sophomore guard Ben Brust, Wisconsin's leading bench scorer at just over ten points a game coming into Saturday, struggled mightily against the Hawkeyes, the school he originally signed with prior to then-coach Todd Lickliter's dismissal. While the Hawkthorn Woods, Ill. native did finish with 11 points, he was 4-of-13 from the field and just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc, those misses leading to several fast break opportunities for the opportunistic Hawkeyes.
As much as Wisconsin's bench play was non-existent, Iowa's was the key to their victory. Freshman guard Aaron White led three Hawkeyes in double digits with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, the lone misfire being followed up by an offensive rebound and putback that gave Iowa the lead for good. Senior guard Bryce Cartwright also came up big off the bench, finishing the game with 17 points of his own on 7-of-12 from the field.
But the bottom line was that Wisconsin's inability to build depth in the non-conference portion of the season came back to bite them on Saturday. With junior forward Ryan Evans in foul trouble and limited to just 15 minutes of floor time, the Badgers were forced to have five players play over 30 minutes, with senior guard Jordan Taylor staying on the floor for the entire 40 minutes. Ultimately, fatigue set in, as Taylor and others were caught a step slow on the defensive end throughout the second half, something Badger fans have not been accustomed to seeing from what was the nation's top scoring defense.
Wisconsin now has just two days to prepare for a much stiffer test at home as Michigan State rolls into town on Tuesday night. With a road date against another top-20 team in Michigan just beyond that and another at Purdue to follow, Wisconsin is now staring a 1-4 start in Big Ten play square in the face.
One bad performance and the conversation has immediately gone from final four to bubble hopes. Oh how quickly things can change.
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