IOWA CITY, Iowa - It was a matchup perfect for the University of Wisconsin to break out of its offensive funk.

Facing one of the worst defenses in the conference, the Badgers showed exceptional shot selection, ball movement, and rhythm to silence a capacity crowd on the road in the opening half.

The problem was the Badgers didn’t have the same type of synergy defensively to match the hosts, not even close.

No.20 Wisconsin’s hot start on offense was neutralized by its inability to get stops, a fact that eventually bit the Badgers when their offense stalled and led to Iowa storming back to earn an 88-86 overtime victory in front of a capacity crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Saturday afternoon.

Days after Wisconsin delivered its best defensive performance of the Big Ten season in holding Ohio State to 54 points, the Badgers (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) gave up a season-high in conference play, as the Hawkeyes surpassed the Buckeyes’ point total with 15:46 remaining.

With five games remaining in the regular season, Wisconsin saw its third-place lead ahead of Northwestern drop to just a half-game in the Big Ten. The Wildcats play at Indiana on Sunday afternoon. The top four teams receive a double bye in next month’s Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis.

Steven Crowl scored a season-high 22 points, A.J. Storr added 21, and Chucky Hepburn had 18, as the Badgers shot 47.6 percent against one of the league’s worst defensive teams but saw its defense run afoul against one of the league’s best offenses.

Iowa (15-11, 7-8) had four players score at least 17 points, led by forward Owen Freeman’s 20 points, as the Hawkeyes made 25 of their final 45 shots (55.6 percent) and averaged 1.67 points per possession in overtime.

Crowl scored seven of Wisconsin’s first 11 points and eight of 16 over its first 19 second-half possessions, a disjointed stretch that saw Iowa take a six-point lead because the Hawkeyes made shots (11 of 17) and UW didn’t (4 of 14).

The stretch of confidence dated back to the end of the first half, where the Hawkeyes made six consecutive baskets and seven of nine during the final 8:28 of the first half, trimming a 13-point lead to 47-43 at the break. Iowa went 22 minutes, 39 seconds of game time between consecutive misses.

UW didn’t buckle, however, grinding out enough possessions to scratch out points and see Iowa cool. The Hawkeyes missed eight of their final 10 shots, as the Badgers closed the game on a 13-4 run over the final 6:49 to force the extra session.

The Badgers had a four-point lead in the early minutes of overtime, but Iowa scored seven of the game’s final nine points, punctuated by Tony Perkins’ bucket in the lane with just over a second remaining.

What it means: Ranked by the NCAA Tournament selection committee as the No.16 overall seed in the country (if the dance started today), the Badgers showed they won’t make the second round of the tournament for the sixth straight year if they can’t defend or, at the least, play their tempo.

Star of the game: The Badgers couldn’t stop Freeman in either half, as the freshman scored 10 points on three shots in each half and went 8-for-11 from the line.

Stat of the game: Wisconsin was 6-for-10 from three-point range in the first half and 1-for-6 in the final two periods, including Max Klesmit missing an open one with 15 seconds remaining in overtime in a tie game.

Reason to be Concerned: Tyler Wahl’s foul trouble hurt Wisconsin’s frontcourt rotation throughout the second half. He picked up his third foul on UW’s first defensive possession and had to sit in favor of Nolan Winter. Winter had his shot working early but committed turnovers on two of the next three possessions. When he picked up his fourth, Wahl sitting in favor of Markus Ilver saw UW’s deficit extend to nine, a sign that UW’s frontcourt reserves are starting to struggle. After Wahl fouled out, UW didn’t make a field goal in the final 2:46.

Don’t overlook: After drawing a foul on a defensive rebound, Freeman slammed the ball to the court in front of the Wisconsin bench and was given a technical by referee Bill Ek. A 76.6 percent free throw shooter, Hepburn had a chance to cut the Iowa lead to two with 4:39 remaining but missed both free throws.

What’s next: Wisconsin faces a quick turnaround when it hosts Maryland on Tuesday in the only regular-season meeting between the programs (8 p.m./Peacock). Although led by the one-two punch of guard Jahmir Young (20.9 ppg, 3.9 apg) and forward Julian Reese (13.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg), the Terrapins (14-11, 6-8) are best when they are locked in defensively, ranking first in the conference in scoring defense (63.8 ppg) and fifth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (91.8).

Wisconsin is 8-6 against Maryland but lost last season’s only meeting in College Park.

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