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Iowa completes season sweep of No. 16 Wisconsin

Feb 24, 2012 - 5:40 AM Iowa City, IA (Sports Network) - On "Matt Gatens Bobblehead Night" it was Wisconsin shaking its head after Iowa rode its senior guard to a 67-66 victory over the 16th-ranked Badgers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Gatens, coming off a 30-point game in Sunday's win over Indiana, made seven three-pointers en route to a 33-point performance to give Iowa (15-13, 7-8 Big Ten) a second straight victory over a ranked opponent.

"I think Matt is making a name for himself to be somebody to be considered to be drafted, certainly making a push for all league," Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. "Once he got going, he was on fire."

Aaron White added 12 points and Roy Devyn Marble chipped in 11 points and eight assists for the Hawkeyes, who completed the season sweep of Wisconsin.

Ryan Evans and Josh Gasser led the Badgers (20-8, 9-6) with 14 points apiece, while Rob Wilson and Ben Brust netted 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the setback.

Iowa led by 11 points late in the second half, but a seven-minute scoreless stretch allowed Wisconsin to trim its deficit to 63-61 on Brust's three- pointer with 20.2 seconds remaining.

Marble ended Iowa's drought with two free throws with 18.7 seconds left, and Evans and White both missed the front end of 1-and-1s to keep it a four- point game.

Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin's leading scorer, put in a quick layup for his first points of the second half, but Gatens fittingly sealed the win with two makes at the foul line.

Taylor's three-pointer at the buzzer did nothing more than up his stat line to nine points on 4-of-8 shooting.

Wisconsin entered as the nation's leading defense, allowing just 51.0 points per game. Iowa, undaunted by the Badgers' defensive prowess, went out and shot 58 percent from the field in the first half.

Gatens did most of the damage, totaling 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including a 4-for-4 effort from behind the arc.

The fast start gave the Hawkeyes a 43-34 halftime lead, and Gatens answered a 12-2 Wisconsin push early in the second half with a personal 10-2 run. The sharpshooter hit a pair of three-pointers to finish off the flurry and give Iowa a 61-50 lead just past the midway point.

Game Notes

Iowa earned a 72-65 decision at Wisconsin on December 31...The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series, 78-77...Including Sunday's game, Gatens made 12 straight three-point attempts before missing one a little over two minutes into the second half. He wound up shooting 12-of-18 from the field and 7-of-10 from long range...Taylor came in averaging 14.3 points per game.