La Crosse’s Davis career-highs in steals, assists but 25th-ranked Badgers lose to No. 5 Iowa, get six seed in tourney

La Crosse’s Jonathan Davis had career-highs in steals and assists, but the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team fell again to a ranked opponent.

The 25th-ranked Badgers lost Sunday 77-73 to No. 5 Iowa and will be the sixth seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament — opening play at 8 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Penn State-Nebraska.

Davis scored 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting, including going 4 of 4 from the line and 1-for-1 from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-5 freshman added a career-high four steals, tied his career-high with three assists, along with two rebounds and two turnovers.

Wisconsin (16-11, 10-10) finished the regular season losing five of six — all those losses to ranked opponents, along with the lone win to unranked Northwestern.

Three free throws for Jordan Bohannon with 34.4 seconds to go gave Iowa(20-7, 14-6) — which will be seeded third in the tournament — a 74-71 lead.

On the next possession, Wisconsin’s Brad Davison and Iowa’s Keegan Murray got tied up under the hoop. Murray was called for a foul, while Davison received a flagrant for a hook and hold, after a review.

The call did not make UW coach Greg Gard happy.

“It appears to have become the ‘Brad Davison rule,'” Gard said. “It’s become a joke.”

Davison hit his free throws, then Iowa did the same, putting them up 76-73.

Davis then got a steal on Bohannon after the inbound with 18 seconds to go but Aleem Ford missed the tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds on the clock.

2021 Big Ten Tournament schedule, scores

Location: Lucas Oil Stadium — Indianapolis, Indiana 

Some start times approximated

First round — Wednesday, March 10
Game 1: No. 12 Northwestern vs. No. 13 Minnesota | 5:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
Game 2: No. 11 Penn State vs. No. 14 Nebraska | 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network

Second round — Thursday, March 11
Game 3: No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 9 Michigan State | 10:30 a.m. on Big Ten Network
Game 4: No. 5 Ohio State vs. Game 1 winner | 1 p.m. on Big Ten Network
Game 5: No. 7 Rutgers vs. No. 10 Indiana | 5:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
Game 6: No. 6 Wisconsin vs. Game 2 winner | 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network

Quarterfinals — Friday, March 12
Game 7: No. 1 Michigan vs. Game 3 winner | 10:30 a.m. on Big Ten Network
Game 8: No. 4 Purdue vs. Game 4 winner | 1 p.m. on Big Ten Network
Game 9: No. 2 Illinois vs. Game 5 winner | 5:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
Game 10: No. 3 Iowa vs. Game 6 winner | 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network

Semifinals — Saturday, March 13
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner | 12 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 2:30 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com

Big Ten Tournament Championship Game — Sunday, March 14
Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 2:30 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com