Garza, Wieskamp help No. 11 Iowa beat No. 21 Wisconsin 77-62

MADISON, Wis. - Luka Garza got his points, but a rare road victory at Wisconsin was what mattered.

Garza scored 30 points, Joe Wieskamp had 17 and No. 11 Iowa pulled away to beat No. 21 Wisconsin 77-62 on Thursday night.

"As I’ve said before, I didn’t come back to score points, and I didn’t come back to win awards," said Garza, who returned for his senior season. "I’ve won awards, I did that last year. My main focus this year is just winning games."

Garza raised his nation-leading average to 24.7 points, making 11 of 19 shots, including 4 of 6 from three-point range, and grabbing eight rebounds. Freshman Keegan Murray had 12 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (16-6, 10-5 Big Ten).

"He’s hard to contain," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said about Garza. "Just because he’s worked so hard to make himself to that type of player he is, and he plays so hard. You watch him on the floor and it’s all-out effort each time down. And obviously if he catches it, it’s a basket, a foul."

"I think that’s the thing that makes them really go, in terms of their efficiency, because they’re No. 1 in the country now in offense. They can rely on throwing him the ball and something positive is going to happen 90% of the time."

Micah Potter had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Wisconsin (15-8, 9-7), Brad Davison added 15 points and D’Mitrik Trice 11. The Badgers lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

Wisconsin had won 13 of the previous 15 games against Iowa at home.

"I think we beat a really good team," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "I thought we shared the ball, which is kind of a staple of our team, but I thought our man-to-man was good again. We mixed it, of course, but I thought our man-to-man was really good."

Down 16 early in the second half, Wisconsin pulled to 49-46 on Brad Davison’s 3-pointer with 9:17 remaining. Iowa hit seven consecutive shots to regain control, extending the lead to 68-54 when Garza worked underneath for a layup.

"We know a team like Wisconsin’s not going away," Garza said. "They’re top 20 in the country for a reason. This team is a Big Ten championship team. They won it last year and they got all their guys back, so they know what it’s like to be down and come back. We knew they had a run in them. They got hot from three. We needed to do a little better job in our defense in stopping them from shooting threes, but nonetheless, we came together and made a run of our own."

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Wisconsin hit just 4 of its first 30 shots, including an astonishing 1 of 18 inside the arc, as Iowa opened a 25-13 lead on Weiskamp’s 3-pointer with 7:18 left in the half.

The Hawkeyes scored the first seven points of the second half to open a 43-27 lead before the Badgers rallied.

Wisconsin hit just 4 of its first 30 shots, including an astonishing 1 of 18 inside the arc, as Iowa opened a 25-13 lead on Weiskamp’s 3-pointer with 7:18 left in the half.

The Badgers finished 13 of 34 from three-point range, but 8 of 36 inside the arc.

"In terms of the twos, I’ll go through and evaluate the shots," Gard said. "If there’s really poor shot selection, we’ll talk about that, if It’s a common theme, but for the most part, I thought we had decent looks."

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Iowa could move up, not only by beating a ranked Wisconsin team, but beating the Badgers at home. Wisconsin has dropped steadily in recent weeks and could fall out of the Top 25.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa: The Hawkeyes remained in fourth place in the Big Ten. The top four teams get a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

Wisconsin: After an 8-1 start, the Badgers have been wildly inconsistent. They have not won consecutive games since beating Indiana 80-73 in double overtime Jan. 7.

UP NEXT

Iowa: Hosts Penn State on Sunday.

Wisconsin: At Northwestern on Sunday.