Iowa to Face Winsconsin Sunday

The Iowa Hawkeyes (12-2, 1-0) men’s basketball team returns to action Sunday when it travels to Madison, Wis., to face the fourth ranked Wisconsin Badgers (14-0, 1-0).  Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. (CT) at the Kohl Center (17,249).

The Hawkeyes know it will be a tough battle when they travel to Wisconsin.   The Badgers enter this weekend’s play one of seven unbeaten teams in the country (Syracuse, Iowa State, Oregon, Ohio State, Arizona, and Wichita State).  The last three meetings between Iowa and Wisconsin have been decided by four points or less, including last season’s double overtime contest in Madison.

The Hawkeyes are up for the challenge.  They have been playing great basketball since the season started.  Iowa’s two losses have come to teams with a combined 24-1 record (Villanova and Iowa State). Iowa’s backcourt of Mike Gesell (3.1) and Roy Devyn Marble (2.5) rank first and fourth, respectively in assist-to-turnover ratio in the Big Ten Conference.  Junior forward Aaron White ranks first in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.660) and fourth in free throw percentage (.833).

Iowa opened the Big Ten schedule with a 67-57 triumph over Nebraska in Iowa City on New Year’s Eve.  The game was the only regular season meeting between the two teams.  Three Hawkeyes scored in double figures: Marble (15), White (13), and Jarrod Uthoff (11).  Uthoff scored all 11 points in the second half.

Last season against Wisconsin, White averaged 15 points, six rebounds and 2.5 steals in two games.  Wisconsin’s Ben Brust averaged 12.5 points, while Sam Dekker averaged nine points in the two games against the Hawkeyes.

The game will air on the Big Ten Network and BTN2GO.