Preview: No. 7 Iowa WBB vs. Wisconsin

WHO: Wisconsin Badgers (8-18 overall, 3-11 Big Ten)

WHEN: Wednesday, February 15th, 6:31pm

WHERE: Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, Iowa)

TV: None

ONLINE: Big Ten Plus

RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network | Sirius/XM 109 or 196

The top of the Big Ten is better than it has been in a long time. Indiana is a favorite to reach the Final Four. Iowa and Maryland both have a chance if they play well and get the right matchups. Michigan and Ohio State have a good shot of making the Sweet Sixteen, and could be dark horses to go further, particularly if the Buckeyes ever get healthy.

But the bottom five teams in the conference just aren’t competitive in the majority of their games. Iowa saw that firsthand recently in its blowout of Rutgers. It will likely see the same thing Wednesday night against Wisconsin.

In 2020-2021, Wisconsin went 5-19 overall and 2-18 in conference. The Badgers were bad enough that they moved on from coach Jonathan Tsipis and brought in Marisa Mosley to replace him. Wisconsin wasn’t good in 2021-2022 — finishing 8-21 overall and 5-13 in conference — but it was better than the prior year. If Wisconsin took another step forward this year, the program could gain some real momentum.

Unfortunately for Badger fans, this year hasn’t been a step forward. The Badgers sit 8-18 overall and 3-11 in the Big Ten. Without a couple wins to close the season, they will actually finish worse in the Big Ten this year compared to last.

Shauna Green’s turnaround of Illinois in a single season also makes Mosley’s position at Wisconsin more difficult. Until recently, coaches have usually gotten 4-5 years to show substantial improvement within a program. With the transfer portal and Green’s recent example, it’s more common to start questioning coaches much sooner when their teams aren’t progressing.

Mosley isn’t on the hot seat yet. Wisconsin has been bad for most of the last 20 years, and Mosley’s results so far are basically the same as what Tsipis did before her. But it is fair to start wanting to see signs that Mosley can lead a turnaround, or if her ceiling at Wisconsin is still the bottom half of the conference.

Like Rutgers, there’s not a lot of good here. Wisconsin’s offense ranks 138th in points per 100 possessions, and its defense ranks a dreadful 344th in opponent’s points per 100 possessions. The Badgers don’t shoot particularly well from anywhere, and struggle significantly with turnovers. The Badgers also don’t rebound well, ranking in the 200s in both offensive and defensive rebounding rate. Their only real offensive bright spot is assists per game, where they rank 39th.

Iowa and Wisconsin have already played once this season, way back on December 4th in Madison. Iowa cruised to a 102-71 victory in that game, and Caitlin Clark recorded a triple-double. Hopefully Clark and the rest of Iowa’s starters won’t need to play so many minutes this time around.

Like Rutgers, Wisconsin is led by a freshman. 6’4’ post Serah Williams is averaging 13.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, and 1.7 bpg while shooting a solid 56.2% from 2. Williams suffered a leg injury in the third quarter of the Minnesota game on Wednesday, however, so it’s possible she won’t even play in this one.

Five years ago, Williams would’ve been seen as a good building block for Wisconsin’s program. Now Badger fans will have to worry that Williams might enter the transfer portal if she doesn’t see signs that Wisconsin will be competitive in the next couple years.

Senior guard Julie Pospisilova also averages 13.2 ppg, along with 5.0 rpg, 4.2 apg, and 1.7 spg. She shoots just 43.3% from two and 29.5% from three, though, and attempts 5 three-pointers per game.

Wisconsin’s other three starters all average in double-figures, and all shoot a decent amount of threes. If the Badgers are hot from three early in the game, they might be able to keep things competitive for a while. If not, this game could easily be over by the second quarter like Iowa’s win over Rutgers.

Don’t look ahead. Iowa ends the year at Nebraska, at #8 Maryland, and vs. #2 Indiana. The Hawks could easily lose any or all of those games. Given Wisconsin’s struggles this season, it would be easy to look ahead to bigger games. Iowa needs to take care of business in this one first.