INDIANAPOLIS — The fifth-ranked University of Iowa men’s basketball team is on to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2006.
The Hawkeyes advanced after completing the three-game season sweep of Wisconsin with a 62-57 victory on Friday night in the B1G Tournament quarterfinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. Iowa will now face second-seeded Illinois on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (CT).
On a night when Iowa couldn’t buy a 3-point field goal – the Hawkeyes finished just 2-for-20 from long range – Iowa won with its defense. The Hawkeyes limited Wisconsin to one field goal over the final 9:21 and held the Badgers to a 38.6 field goal percentage for the game.
Senior Luka Garza paced the Hawkeyes with 24 points and nine rebounds. He made 10-of-15 field goals in the game. Bohannon scored 11 points and junior Joe Wieskamp scored 11 and had seven rebounds in his first action since rolling his ankle in the regular season finale.
After leading 32-26 at the break, Wisconsin pushed its lead to 34-26 early in the second half on a Nate Reuvers jumper. Iowa cut the deficit to 34-28 on a Garza layup on the next possession and Bohannon hit the Hawkeyes’ first 3-pointer at the 17:01 mark to get Iowa to within 34-31.
The Hawkeyes fought back to take the 44-43 on a third chance layup from Garza following three offensive rebounds. After four lead changes and a tie, Joe Toussaint put Iowa back on top with a pullup jumper at the 8:30 mark.
Wisconsin stayed around, tying the game on two Micah Potter free throws in the middle of its drought with 3:26 left before Wieskamp put Iowa on top for good. He scored back-to-back layups on assists from Connor McCaffery and CJ Fredrick in a span of 26 seconds.
The Hawkeyes got off to a solid start in the game, jumping out to an 18-11 lead 10 minutes before Wisconsin reeled off eight straight points to take a 19-18 lead. Wisconsin led 32-26 at the break after limiting the Hawkeyes to 39.3 percent shooting, including 0-of-10 from 3-point range.
Wisconsin’s D’Mitrik Trice scored 19 points to lead the team, while Potter had 17 points and eight rebounds.
Saturday’s semifinal game will start at approximately 2:30 p.m. (CT). It will be televised nationally on CBS.
