Iowa 88, No. 20 Wisconsin 86: Tony Perkins says Bye Bye, Bucky

IOWA CITY -- The Iowa men took it down to the wire with Big Ten rival Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon before Tony Perkins sealed the victory with a layup with 1.3 seconds left on the clock, as the Hawkeyes came back from a 13-point deficit to win, 88-86.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Owen Freeman may have been the deciding factor for the Hawkeyes on Saturday afternoon. The freshman from Moline finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks in 38 minutes.

"He's a beast," Perkins said postgame. "I told him every time he'd get fouled, get a rebound or get a bucket, 'You are a beast. Act like it'."

"That's the type of player he is. He goes for the ball, he can score, hit free throws, dunk on somebody -- he works hard. He's also got me here that's here to tell him how good of a player he is. He's a beast."

According to Freeman, Perkins wasn't lying.

"Every time we came together on the court, that's all he said," Freeman laughed. "It really boosts my confidence and allows me to go out there and play free, too."

Fran McCaffery, who has been called upon to sing Freeman's praises all season long, was happy to delve into his outlandish performance, and his potential.

"I've been saying from the beginning that the thing that makes him unique is that he has a bag," McCaffery said. "A lot of times you don't expect that from your 6'10" center. I've been encouraging him all year to be that guy -- attack in the open floor, spin, shot-fake, rip and drive. I think the next phase in his game is that he'll be shooting pull-up jumpers out of that."

"His ability to affect the game at both ends -- that's how we won. He was blocking shots, he's rebounding the ball, starting our break, giving others an opportunity to make plays and he did it today staying out of foul trouble, so he's learning."

Freeman impressed opposing head coach Greg Gard as well.

"He's a good player," Gard said. "He's had a terrific freshman year, he's one of the better freshmen in the Big Ten. He's been really consistent and been impressive from afar when we've prepared for him. He's had really good production for a freshman."

The win didn't come without some all-too-typical lapses from the Hawkeyes. Iowa started the game a step slow defensively, allowing several open threes and easy buckets under the basket for the Badgers.

"It didn't look good," McCaffery said. "They were draining threes early, and we were down 12-14 early. That thing can go to 25 quickly with this team."

Per usual, the Hawkeyes' defensive lapses created open shots for the Badgers early on.

"We were late," McCaffery said. "We were late on our double teams and our rotations. They were open. You just can't hope that a team like Wisconsin is going to miss. At some point, you've got to make them miss. You've got to be in the vicinity, you've got to chase them inside the line, contest."

The Badger lead hovered around 11 and 13 between 15:50 and 6:07 remaining in the first half before the Hawks clawed themselves back into the contest. Ultimately, Iowa trimmed its deficit to four at the half: 47-43.

In the second half Iowa erupted, eventually leading by as many as nine points at 74-65 with 7:06 left in regulation. That lead only lasted until 1:02 remained on the clock, as Iowa blew another second-half lead; Wisconsin closed regulation on a 13-4 run.

"It's a game of runs," Gard said postgame. "You try to stay as consistent as possible, but something usually happens along the way to ignite that run or put you in a rut. You just try to manage those ebbs and flows and not let the dips be too long or too deep."

"I knew when we had a lead that there was way too much game left, and I know how explosive Iowa is offensively. They came back from 20 down against Minnesota."

A Perkins layup with 42 seconds left on the clock would be enough to salvage the contest and send it to overtime.

Not only did Perkins make the game-tying layup, he sealed the victory in overtime with 1.3 seconds remaining.

"It was just a play we put in yesterday, actually," Perkins said. "It was just give me the ball and let me attack the big, especially when they play drop [coverage]. Let me get a foul or hit [Owen] on the roll."

"I thought I got fouled, before it because he grabbed my arm, but it is what it is. I wasn't really tripping, I just turned and picked up the ball. I thought the clock was about to go out, so I just threw it up and it went in, so I'll take it."

With the way the game started for Perkins, one wouldn't have thought he'd be McCaffery's go-to in the final stretch, as Perkins put up just 2 points in the first half over 12 minutes.

"Coach just came to me and said 'You had a few games where your first half wasn't good, but we know what you can do in the second half. Just go out there and be you. Give us all you can for 20 minutes. I won't sub you out, just do what you can,'" Perkins said. "I walked in the locker room at halftime and said, 'That's on me. I'm bringing us down right now and not being much of a leader.'"

Between the second half and overtime, Perkins put up 16 of his 18 points.

"I was really proud of Tony Perkins in particular," McCaffery added. "He didn't have a good start to the game. ... Tony took the second half over -- not that I'm surprised. That's who he is."

"That's character. A lot of guys -- the coach takes them out if they're not playing well and they pout and complain," McCaffery continued. "[Perkins] said 'You know what? It's on me.' That's character. I knew exactly what he would do. I know him, I know what makes him tick. He was angrier at himself than I was. I'm really happy for him. When you start out like that and then finish like he did, it's tremendous feeling as a competitor."

After a dispiriting 12-point loss to Maryland on Wednesday, Perkins and the rest of the Hawkeyes could feel how important an upset win over the No. 20 team in the country would be.

"This was a much-needed win," Perkins said. "I give a lot of credit to the fans. Hopefully we can keep it going for the last few home games. They got into it, and that allowed us to get a lot more energy than what we usually have. The crowd helped a lot."

"We lost a couple tough ones," McCaffery added. "That's hard in this league, every game is so difficult. This was a ranked opponent, we had a huge crowd and they were awesome. We got home at 3 am the other night. You have to show some toughness with little sleep and one day of practice. ... This team is tough. We beat a really good team."

Up next, the Hawkeyes will travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State (16-9, 8-6) on Tuesday, February 20 at 6 pm CT. The game will be broadcast on Peacock.