Down by double-digits with under eight minutes to play. A 23-5 run to end the game. A comeback victory for Iowa.

Not chaos, just Big Ten basketball.

It wasn’t pretty — in fact, it was ugly — but the Hawkeyes clawed their way back from a 12-point deficit with 7:13 remaining in the second half to beat Wisconsin, 68-62.

“The first thing is you can’t panic,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “They hit some shots, we had some breakdowns, you got to respect your opponent that they’re going to do some things well, you have to keep executing, and then you have to keep defending.”

The Hawkeyes did both.

In the final 10 minutes of game time, Wisconsin scored only 12 points as Iowa mounted its comeback.

McCaffery’s message got through.

“Wisconsin’s a tough team,” Joe Toussaint said. “We just had to be tougher than them. Coach was telling us we had to get stops. Teammates are saying, ‘We’ve got to get three stops in a row, four stops in a row, five stops in a row.’ Just had to keep getting stops and rebounds.”

Toussaint acted as Iowa’s spark plug Monday. The true freshman tied the game at 59 with 1:20 remaining on a layup and gave the Hawkeyes the lead after converting on a free throw.

That wasn’t how it was drawn up.

“The play was designed for Luka [Garza], but I saw them cheating on Luka,” Toussaint said. “I saw some open space, so I took what they gave me. Thank God the shot went in.”

Toussaint finished the night with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

It’s a risky move for a young player take the ball to the hoop himself when the play is designed to go to a potential All-American. This time, the risk paid off.

“He can always have nice drives to the basket,” McCaffery said. “I think, for him, his decision making today was spectacular. That’s who he has to be. When to go, when not to go. And big play at the end of the half, the big plays coming down the stretch, intelligent post feeds, moving the ball, and his defense on [Wisconsin’s D’Mitrik] Trice, who is a very good player, was really good.”

Toussaint has been on a hot stretch of late after a slump early in the Big Ten season. He scored 14 points and contributed seven assists and four rebounds in Iowa’s win last week over a ranked Rutgers team, and he again proved his worth against Wisconsin.

His teammates are taking notice.

“He’s tremendous,” Garza said. “A bundle of energy, always going and going. He’s done a great job over the course of his freshman season. Knowing when to attack, knowing when to read. That all comes with experience. He’s growing up fast.”

This is a confidence building win for the Hawkeyes. They didn’t have their shooting touch, but fought out a victory nonetheless.

Iowa has brushed away any adversity it has faced this season. Tonight was no different.

“It was a rough night for all of us,” Toussaint said. “We battled it out to the end. It’s an ugly win, but it got the job done.”