MADISON, Wis. _ This crushing loss will weigh heavily on Wisconsin coach Greg Gard and his players.
How quickly the Badgers can recover from their stunning 59-57 loss to Iowa on Thursday night at the Kohl Center could determine how long UW remains alive in the postseason.
UW led by five points and had the ball with 2 minutes, 3 seconds left but committed two critical turnovers, and Iowa capitalized to outscore UW, 7-0, in the final 1:45.
In the closing seconds, Iowa's Peter Jok missed a jumper, but UW couldn't control the rebound.
Jordan Bohannon was left open on the left wing during the scramble and buried a 3-pointer for a 59-57 lead with 9.7 seconds left.
Bronson Koenig missed a jumper, Nicholas Baer grabbed the rebound and UW's stunned players didn't foul Baer, who dribbled out the final seconds.
Stunning.
"Their young guys are really good," UW associate head coach Lamont Paris said before the game. "I think they have an inside presence _ play with a lot of energy there. They have good shooting. Bohannon has provided some leadership, even as a freshman.
"They've got a lot of shooters. They've got an inside presence. They've got good players. They're young and sometimes they do some stuff that young guys do but they have a lot of talent."
The Badgers (22-8, 11-6 Big Ten) lost for the fifth time in six games and no longer can tie Purdue (24-6, 13-4) for a share of the league title.
UW slipped into a tie for second with idle Maryland (23-7, 11-6).
They close the regular season Sunday against visiting Minnesota and can secure the No. 2 seeding in the Big Ten tournament with a victory over the Gophers.
If the Badgers lose to Minnesota (23-7, 11-6) they will be seeded No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6 depending on the outcome of other games.
Iowa (17-13, 9-8) won its third consecutive game and snapped a six-game losing streak to UW.
UW held a 57-52 lead with 2:03 left when a team that should be poised melted down.
Jordan Hill, who had given UW a defensive spark in the second half, turned the ball over with 2:01 left.
That led to a basket by Jordan Bohannon (11 points) with 1:45 left.
A turnover by Nigel Hayes led to a basket by Ahmad Wagner with 1:35 left and the lead was a point.
Zak Showalter missed an open 3-pointer, but Iowa failed to capitalize this time.
Ethan Happ rebounded the miss and was fouled with 30.5 seconds left.
Happ, 1 of 5 from the line, missed both attempts.
Baer scored 14, including 12 in the first half, to lead Iowa.
Cordell Pemsl, who had the assist on Bohannon's 3-pointer added 10 points.
Koenig led UW with 19. Showalter and Happ added 11 apiece. Hayes had 10 but had five of UW's 13 turnovers.
Happ scored inside to break a 45-45 tie and Jordan Hill then stole a pass and drove in for a dunk for a 49-45 lead with 7:38 left.
After an Iowa miss, Koenig hit a tough baseline jumper with the shot clock running down to push the lead to 51-45 with 5:46 left.
UW pushed the lead to nine twice, thanks to big plays by Hill.
His offensive rebound led to a 3-pointer by Showalter for a 54-45 lead with 4:15 left. Then after Iowa scored he fed Happ inside for a lay-in for a 56-47 lead with 3:46 left.
Tyler Cook (nine points, eight rebounds) converted a three-point play and Jok then hit two free throws after he was fouled with 3:12 left.
The officials reviewed the play, however, and Jok was assessed a flagrant foul for elbowing Showalter.
Showalter made 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead to 57-52 but UW failed to score.
Iowa launched a pair of 3-pointers, but Baer and Bohannon both missed, and the ball went out of bounds to UW with 2:03 left.
UW's veteran team should have persevered. Instead, the Badgers collapsed.
