Luka Garza, No. 18 Iowa rally to beat Wisconsin 68-62

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Luka Garza had 21 points and 18 rebounds and No. 18 Iowa rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat Wisconsin 68-62 on Monday night, Jan. 27.

The Hawkeyes (15-5, 6-3 Big Ten) trailed 57-45 with 7:13 to play before going on a 19-2 run. Joe Toussaint’s layup and free throw with 1:20 to go gave Iowa a 60-59 lead, and the Hawkeyes did not trail again.

It was the 12th double-double of the season for Garza, who leads the Big Ten in scoring.

CJ Fredrick had 17 points for Iowa. Joe Wieskamp had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Toussaint added 11 points.

D’Mitrik Trice led Wisconsin (12-9, 5-5) with 16 points and nine rebounds. Nate Reuvers had 13 points.

The Hawkeyes struggled with their shooting, going 20 for 60 from the field, including 3 of 20 on 3-pointers. But they game up with big plays in the closing minutes, including Fredrick’s 3-pointer with 5:08 to go that cut Wisconsin’s lead to 57-54.

The game was tied at 30 at halftime, but the Badgers opened the second half on an 18-8 run and kept control until Iowa’s late burst.

King out

Guard Kobe King, Wisconsin’s leading scorer, did not make the trip for personal reasons. King, who has started 19 games, is averaging 10 points per game.

Big picture

Wisconsin: The Badgers have lost three of their last four.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes, playing three games in seven days this week, needed to keep pace in the Big Ten standings. Iowa remained in a three-way tie for third in the conference, one game behind first-place Michigan State and Illinois.

Poll implications

The Hawkeyes moved up a spot in the AP Top 25 earlier Monday. They have games coming up this week against No. 15 Maryland and No. 19 Illinois.

Up next

Wisconsin hosts Michigan State on Saturday.

Iowa plays at Maryland on Thursday.