STAT PACK: Wisconsin Falls to Iowa, 62-57, in Big Ten Tournament Quarters

The University of Wisconsin appears primed to do some damage in next week’s NCAA tournament in and around Indianapolis. That will have to do after the Badgers ran out of gas once again playing a team above them in the standings.

Leading by eight points in the opening minutes of the second half, sixth-seed Wisconsin made one field goal the final 9:21 to fall to third-seed Iowa, 62-57, in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Senior center Luka Garza scored a game-high 24 points for Iowa (21-7), which completed a three-game sweep of Wisconsin in winning its first game scoring under 70 points all year.

We take a closer look at the game in the BadgerBlitz Stat Pack

- Senior D’Mitrik Trice led Wisconsin with 19 points but had two critical miscues in the final 62 seconds that caused empty possessions with the Badgers trailing.

- Senior forward Micah Potter scored 17 points and senior guard Brad Davison added 10.

- After shooting 45.2 percent in the first half, the Badgers dropped to 30.8 percent (8-for-26) in the second half.

- Scoring a combined 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting against Penn State, Aleem Ford (5 pts, 2-for-4) and Nate Reuvers (2 pts, 1-for-2) were non-factors.

- Wisconsin gave up nine offensive rebounds in the second half that led to six second-chance points. UW managed only two points off its four offensive rebounds in the second half and scored just four points in the lane after halftime. UW finished the game 6-for-19 on layups.

- Wisconsin started the game 5-for-16 and were getting outpaced by Garza, who was 6-for-8 and scored 16 of Iowa’s first 22 points.

- Just like they did against Penn State the night before, the Badgers caught fire during the latter parts of the first half. The Badgers made seven straight field goals to erase a seven-point deficit and take the lead.

- Wisconsin committed six turnovers on its first 23 possessions, but the Badgers only had one on their final nine possessions.

- Defensively, the Badgers executed one of their better halves of basketball. UW held Iowa to 39.3 percent shooting, held players not named Garza to 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) from the field and didn’t allow a 3-pointer on 10 attempts. UW also forced eight turnovers and held the Hawkeyes to .765 points per possession.

- Closing the half on a 21-8 run, the Badgers didn’t allow Iowa any points the final 3:39 of the half and forced five turnovers during that stretch.

- Guards Davison (3), Jonathan Davis (3) and Trice (2) were responsible for eight of Wisconsin’s nine assists in the first half, as the Badgers got multiple wide-open dunks on rolls to the basket with the Hawkeyes asleep at the wheel.

- Wisconsin scored the first points of the second half to go up eight, but the Badgers missed five straight shots as Iowa cut the lead to 34-33.

- The next two minutes was a blitzkrieg, as both teams combined to score on eight straight possessions to execute a momentum tug-of-war leading into the under 12-minute timeout.

- UW’s brick wall in the post started to crumble around the midpoint of the half, as the Hawkeyes secured seven offensive rebounds in five possessions that led to six points and pulled in front.

- Wisconsin’s first free throw attempts came with 4:55 remaining, as Davison’s two makes made Iowa’s lead 52-50 and Potter’s pair two possessions later tied the game with 3:26 remaining.

- Similar to the night before when Wisconsin was losing an 18-point lead, the Badgers’ offense became stagnant and lacked movement down the stretch. That led to a Trice turnover on a cross-court pass with 1:02 remaining and UW down four and a five-second call with 19 seconds left, also with the deficit at four.

- Trice hit a 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds remaining, the only basket Wisconsin made in the final 9:21, to make it interesting, but the Hawkeyes iced the game with two free throws on the next possession and closed the game on a 10-5 run.

- Wisconsin will remain in isolation in Indianapolis as they await its seed for the NCAA Tournament, which will be released on Sunday.