MADISON, Wis. - The domination that No. 21 Wisconsin displayed in its 65-45 victory over Iowa was particularly satisfying for redshirt senior standout Ethan Happ.
The win was Wisconsin’s biggest margin of victory in a Big Ten Conference game this season. Entering their home finale, the Badgers’ previous four games were decided by six points or less.
Wisconsin whipped Iowa with double-double efforts from Happ (18 points, 14 rebounds) and senior forward Khalil Iverson, who recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“It was definitely nice to stomp on someone’s throat and not have them hang around,” said Happ of the Badgers, who have won four of their last five games.
The emotions Happ felt on Senior Night were just as much for Iverson as they were for himself. Iverson put down two emphatic first-half dunks that got the Badgers rolling and riled up the Kohl Center crowd.
“He’s done a lot of work in the shadows, so it was nice these last couple of weeks for him to really hit the spotlight,” Happ said of his road-trip roommate, who’s posted double-digit scoring in four of the last five games.
Happ played one of his most complete games of the season. Not only did he have three assists, two blocks and two steals, he also made 11-of-18 free throws. The 11 free throws were a career-high mark.
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard couldn’t help but smile when he saw the buckets that Happ made from the charity stripe. Happ, who has struggled from the foul line, is shooting 47 percent from the free-throw line (69 of 147).
Happ also spent the majority of time guarding Iowa’s leading scorer Tyler Cook, a 6-foot-9 junior, who averaged 15.8 points-per-game entering Thursday. Cook was held scoreless, and had seven rebounds in 24 minutes.
Gard had a good feeling about how Wisconsin would play after an excellent workout on Wednesday from Happ, who will leave the school as one of the best players in program history.
“He won the game in practice in terms of how he practiced was as good as he’s been all year,” Gard said of Happ. “And that’s something we’ve been trying to encourage.
“His energy, his body language, his everything was off the charts yesterday. Senior Night was in sight -- I don’t know what it (was). He played tonight how he practiced yesterday.”
Charlie Thomas, who had two rebounds and one block against Iowa, was the third senior to be honored during a pre-game ceremony.
Iverson and Thomas have been roommates at Wisconsin since the pair arrived on campus four seasons ago. Happ has been at Wisconsin for five.
Iverson and Happ bickered on Thursday night about which was better at certain video games, and it’s obvious they’ve developed a solid friendship off the court.
They’ll likely continue to poke fun at each other through post season and beyond.
