Essegian, Wahl help send Wisconsin past Iowa 64-52

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Wisconsin grinds out win over Iowa

Wisconsin stays on the bubble as the Badgers grind out a home win over Iowa.

Feb 23, 2023, 04:29 am

MADISON, Wisc. -- — Connor Essegian scored 17 points and Tyler Wahl had a double-double and Wisconsin beat Iowa 64-52 on Wednesday night.

Though Wisconsin (16-11, 8-9) is still a game behind Iowa (17-11, 9-8) in the Big Ten standings, the Badgers would win the tiebreaker in the event of an even conference finish due to the season sweep.

Wahl scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Chucky Hepburn scored 12. Essegian's 2-for-7 effort from 3-point range pulled him into a tie with Brad Davison for the freshman school record for made 3s (60) in a season.

Essegian's second 3 with 10:26 left gave Wisconsin the lead for good at 43-41 and it steadily pulled away from there. Despite Wisconsin's 4-for-18 shooting performance from 3-point range and 10-for-18 foul shooting, the Badgers were 25-of-48 (52.1%) shooting overall.

Tony Perkins and Filip Rebraca each scored 13 points for Iowa and reserve Payton Sandfort scored 10. Iowa was 20-for-62 shooting (32.3%) and 3 of 28 (10.7%) behind the arc. It was the second consecutive game in which the Hawkeyes missed 15 of their first 17 3s. They finished 3 of 24 from distance in Sunday's 80-60 loss to Northwestern. Entering Wednesday among the Power 5 schools, Iowa owned the largest disparity between points scored at home (89.2) and on the road (69.7).

Iowa hosts Michigan State on Saturday. Wisconsin plays at Michigan on Sunday.

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