MADISON, Wis. – The rust was evident on the University of Wisconsin, an oxidizing layer around the Badgers’ defensive rotations that started to corrode other parts of their game. Fortunately, the 21st-ranked Badgers have enough depth and talent compared to last season to fight through a little bit of stormy weather.

Wisconsin’s 83-72 victory over Iowa Tuesday to restart Big Ten play was a showcase of how effective the Badgers can be in a variety of ways. UW (10-3, 2-0 Big Ten) was somewhat out of sorts on both ends of the court and still managed to trade punches and do enough to frustrate one of the highest-scoring offenses in the country in the first half.

Once Wisconsin got its act together, it was game over.

“I think we’re a pretty confident group going into every game,” said forward Steven Crowl, following his third double-double of the season. “I keep going back to last year, but this year it just feels a little bit different with our confidence.”

Here are my takeaways from Wisconsin’s sixth consecutive win in a Big Ten home opener.

The first half was the furthest thing from a beauty contest. The Badgers were sloppy with ball security, had no perimeter presence, and struggled rotating out to perimeter shooters.

The Hawkeyes weren’t much better. Committing five turnovers in 4:30, Iowa’s four-forward lineup couldn’t stop Wisconsin’s dribble penetration and struggled to get to the free-throw line.

The play was sloppy, the pace was frenetic at points, and the average quality of basketball feels typical of the Big Ten regular season.

Head coach Greg Gard and guard Max Klesmit pointed to the defensive end as the big culprit, which dominoes into problems on the offense with low-grade shot attempts and attacking driving lanes that weren’t high-percentage looks.

“Sometimes that can happen when you play a team that likes to go up and down and create a lot of chaos,” said Klesmit, referring to the Hawkeyes having one of the faster tempo offenses in the country.

Although the Badgers held Iowa to .941 points per possession in the first half, Gard admitted he didn’t feel comfortable because of the way the Hawkeyes can score.

The Badgers were also caught off guard by Iowa trapping the post, something the Hawkeyes hadn’t shown on tape, and caused decisions to be rushed.

“We tried to hit home runs instead of making the simple play with it,” Gard said. “It looked like we hadn’t played in 10 days.”

Even with the problems in the first half, Wisconsin went into the locker room tied at 32 because the combination of A.J. Storr, Steven Crowl, and Tyler Wahl pummeled the low post. The trio scored 14 of UW’s 22 paint points in the first half.

The number dwindled to just 10 in the second half only because Iowa couldn’t stop fouling. The Badgers went 20-for-26 from the line in the final 20 minutes, with Wahl making a career-high 11 free throws on a career-high 13 attempts.

Overall, UW scored 42 points in the paint and went 25-for-35 from the line, outscoring the Hawkeyes by six inside and a whopping 14 from the line. The makes and attempts were the second most of the season behind their 27-for-40 game against Robert Morris.

"This team is too good to put on the free throw line 35 times," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "They were in the double bonus relatively early in the second half. It's hard to come back when you do that."

The free throw success is encouraging for Wahl, who shot 63.4 percent last year and was at 63.6 percent entering Tuesday.

Defensively, the Badgers saw Iowa shoot over 13 percentage points higher but defended better, especially keeping leading scorer Ben Krikke out of rhythm with foul trouble and holding Payton Sandfort scoreless after he scored nine in the opening half.

Wisconsin was just 4-for-16 from three-point range, yet still averaged 1.186 points per possession.

Storr has been lauded over the past two months for the athleticism he has brought to Wisconsin’s rotation, changing the way the Badgers function offensively and adding a dynamic that was sorely missing last season, especially in transition.

In a first half that needed a boost, Storr delivered with three dunks of different degrees – one by putting the ball on the floor and attacking the rim, one in transition on an alley-oop from Klesmit, and another in a one-on-one situation against Iowa senior Tony Perkins.

But the highlight of the night was when Chucky Hepburn delivered a pass off the glass that Storr finished with a flush over unsuspecting forward Patrick McCaffery.

“It was special,” Storr said. “Obviously playing with an unselfish guard in Chucky, so just run the floor. He’s going to throw it off the board if it’s available.”

Storr said playing at Wisconsin is “advancing my whole game” because the Badgers are having him play out of the post more than he did last season at St. John’s. With that has come playing more off two feet, which has changed Storr’s offensive approach.

“You’re more physical when you play off two,” he said. “You have better balance, so go up there and playing off two feet, I feel like I can finish better.”

Finishing ability, explosiveness, and getting to the rim in the full and half court are all things Storr has delivered in just 13 games with Wisconsin.

“With him, you see all the ability,” Gard said. “It oozes what his ability and potential is. I think the scary thing is he doesn’t understand how good he can be yet. He’s learning a lot. He’s been awesome to coach.”

Had Wisconsin not had an extended break, the likelihood of Hepburn missing a game or games would have been high. Gard revealed that Hepburn hadn’t gone through a full practice since suffering a lower-body injury in UW’s Dec.22 win over Chicago State. He purposely tried to keep Hepburn’s minutes down in the first half and followed through on that plan because of Kamari McGee, who Max Klesmit said gave the Badgers “life” in the first half.

The junior guard stripped Sandfort and finished the possession with a reverse layup and picked off Sandfort’s pass two possessions later, only to find Nolan Winter under the rim for an uncontested dunk. He finished with two points, two assists, two rebounds, and three steals.

“You look at the stat sheet and you see three steals in the column, that’s huge,” Klesmit said. “Having a guy like that can come off the bench and spark life into us carried over into the second half big time. It’s a credit to Kam and how much he works.”

Gard said Hepburn “has been feeling good,” which was evident in the second half of his back-to-back possessions with steals and having a hand in transition points, which boosted UW’s lead to 10 and was the turning point in the game.

74.4 – Iowa is averaging 99.0 points against mid-major teams but Wisconsin dropped the Hawkeyes’ ppg against major conference teams to 74.4.

83 – Wisconsin’s 83 points are the most since the Badgers scored 87 in a nine-point win over Iowa on Jan.6, 2022.

8 – With 16 points, Storr has scored in double figures in eight straight games and 11 of 13 this season.

36 – With a game-high 19 points, Wahl upper his career point total to 1,117, moving past Marcus Landry (1,114) and Brian Butch (1,115) to 36th on Wisconsin’s career scoring list. Next up is James Johnson (1,147) and Ben Brust (1,148).

353 – On a night the Badgers honored the passing of Senator Herb Kohl, Wisconsin improved to 353-68 (.838) in the building that bears his name.

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