GAME NOTES: The Iowa Hawkeyes and the 25th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers will do battle in a Big Ten contest this afternoon. Iowa has lost three of its last four games to fall to 7-7 overall, and the most recent defeat came on Wednesday by a 79-76 final to Indiana in the league opener. The Hawkeyes' last five setbacks have all come by fewer than 10 points, suggesting that they have managed to stay competitive even in defeat. Wisconsin opened Big Ten play in style with a 70-54 road romp over Michigan. The Badgers have now won their last five outings to improve to 11-2 overall, and the lone losses to date have come against Marquette and Duke, two highly-ranked teams. Iowa owns a 75-72 edge in the all-time series with Wisconsin, but the Badgers have won the last two meetings and eight of the last nine.

Justin Johnson has been a solid performer for Iowa this season, as he is scoring 15.7 ppg to lead the team. The only other double-digit scorer for the Hawkeyes is Tony Freeman, as he checks in with 12.8 ppg. Freeman, however, is shooting a lowly 32.6 percent from the field, a figure than needs to improve significantly. Iowa is scoring 59.0 ppg while allowing 57.0 ppg to the opposition. Johnson did all he could to keep the game close against Indiana earlier this week, as he poured in 29 points, including a staggering 19 points in the final 108 seconds of the contest. He made six three-pointers during that span and finished with eight makes from behind the arc, the second most in school history. Freeman posted 12 points and nine assists, but he made good on only 3-of-14 field goal attempts.

Jon Leuer was outstanding for Wisconsin in the win over Michigan earlier this week, as he poured in 25 points off the bench. Leuer, who played just 24 minutes, shot 8-of-9 from the floor, including 5-of-5 from three-point range. Marcus Landry pitched in 15 points for the Badgers, and Jason Bohannon added 10 points. Wisconsin turned the ball over 18 times, but the positives greatly outweighed that negative stat. The Badgers finished with a 35-25 rebounding advantage, a 19-9 edge in points from the foul line, and limited the Wolverines to 39.2 percent overall shooting. Leuer was only averaging 4.8 ppg heading into the game against Michigan, so his performance was surprising to everyone. Trevon Hughes (14.3 ppg) and Brian Butch (13.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg) are the top performers on the Wisconsin roster.

The home team has to get the edge today, as Wisconsin plays with a ton of confidence in Madison. Expect a strong effort at both ends of the floor by the Badgers.