Hawkeyes Fall Short in OT Against Wisconsin

Badgers Pull Out Victory Sunday Night in Iowa City

Tony Perkins, still in uniform, was back on the Carver-Hawkeye Arena court less than an hour after Iowa’s 78-75 overtime loss to Wisconsin in Sunday’s Big Ten opener.

Perkins stood at the free-throw line in the empty arena and took shots. He rebounded one that missed, and then fired the basketball at the backboard.

It was that kind of game for the Hawkeyes, one that left them looking for answers deep into the night.

Connor McCaffery, who had played 41 ½ minutes, was especially steamed.

Asked how he felt, McCaffery said, “I’m all right. I’m a little pissed about a couple of possessions.”

This was a game where possessions haunted, especially at the end.

The Hawkeyes (7-3 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) started the night short-handed — Kris Murray was still out with his left leg injury, and Ahron Ulis was out with a hip contusion — and even when they were leading it felt like they were chasing the Badgers.

And yet, they could have — and in their minds should have — won.

Iowa forced overtime with an 8-0 run over the final 54 seconds of the second half — the Hawkeyes tied it with a five-points-in-six-seconds burst — and then in overtime Patrick McCaffery’s 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced a second overtime rimmed out.

“Felt so good off my hands,” McCaffery said. “Right on.”

Everything felt so good at times, so off at others. Iowa led 48-42 with 10:34 left in the second half, and then missed 12 of its next 14 shots as the Badgers (8-2, 2-0) roared back.

Iowa led 73-72 in overtime, then gave up baskets on the Badgers’ next two possessions sandwiched around two Hawkeye turnovers.

The Badgers made their last six shots of the game.

“In overtime, they made big shots, we made big shots,” Patrick McCaffery said. “They made more.”

“They hit a couple of threes down the stretch in overtime,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “But even then, we had the last shot, so guys kept fighting.”

The Hawkeyes seemed dead down 60-52. Connor McCaffery’s three-point play with 54 seconds left cut the lead to five. Then, after Steven Crowl missed the front end of a one-and-bonus, Perkins scored on a drive to the basket with 21 seconds left.

The Hawkeyes trapped on the inbounds play, with Perkins poking the ball from Connor Essegian. Perkins picked up the loose ball and fed a pass to Patrick McCaffery, who swished a three from in front of the Iowa bench.

“We were down five with the ball, so we knew we had a chance,” Connor McCaffery said.

Fran McCaffery didn’t have a lot of choices without Ulis and Murray. Dasonte Bowen got the start in Ulis’ place and played 20 minutes. He was one of an eight-man rotation that included walk-on Carter Kingsbury, who played almost 10 minutes.

Patrick McCaffery led the Hawkeyes with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Perkins and Connor McCaffery each had 17 points, with McCaffery adding 10 rebounds. Filip Rebraca had 10.

Wisconsin can gum up even the best offenses, and the Hawkeyes seemed out-of-sorts, especially early. The Hawkeyes missed nine of their first 10 shots and then rallied to shoot 42 percent for the game.

Wisconsin shot 50.8 percent for the game.

“We were trying to push the ball both halves,” Fran McCaffery said. “We didn’t make any adjustments (in the second half), we just didn’t make any shots (in the first half). We were pushing it. We just needed more stops.”

Tyler Wahl led Wisconsin with 21 points. Essegian scored 14.