No. 19 Illinois at No. 18 Iowa: Three In The Key Preview & Prediction

No. 19 Illinois goes back on the road hoping to extend the Big Ten’s longest active winning streak to eight games.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Carrying the Big Ten’s longest active winning streak at seven games – No. 19 Illinois concludes its stretch with three out of four on the road this afternoon at No. 18 Iowa (12 p.m. CT, FS1).

This game begins a stretch of five-straight Quad 1 games and five in a row versus ranked foes for the Illini. Illinois’ 7-game conference winning streak is its longest in 15 years, since setting a school record with 25 consecutive Big Ten victories spanning 2004 (10) and 2005 (15) seasons (Jan. 31, 2004-March 3, 2005).

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Game 22: No. 19 Illinois at No. 18 Iowa

Date/Time/Place: Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020: Noon CST, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa.

Capacity: 15,056

Records: Illinois 16-5, 8-2 in Big Ten; 12-21, 7-13 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19. Iowa 15-6, 6-4 in Big Ten; 23-12, 10-10 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19.

Line: Iowa by 5

Series notes: In its last trip to Iowa City, the Hawkeyes rolled to a blowout win behind a historic shooting performance. Iowa shot an arena record 68 percent, including 15-of-21 from 3-point range for 71.4 percent accuracy.  Illinois owns an 85-75 advantage in the all-time series but Iowa leads 55-22 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Sunday begins a stretch of five-straight Quad 1 games and five in a row versus ranked foes for the Illini. Iowa has won the last four games against Illinois, each on a different court. The Hawkeyes beat the Illini in Champaign and New York in 2018, and Iowa City and Chicago in 2019.

TV: FS1 - Wayne Randazzo (PBP), Nick Bahe (analyst)

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Deon Thomas (analyst) - The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, Sirius/XM 195 and at FightingIllini.com.

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Before every game of the 2019-20 season, we take a look at three things you’ll want to watch for after the tip.

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1) Can Illinois slow down Luka Garza?

Garza was named a first-team midseason All-American by Sporting News and named to two national player of the year midseason watch lists (Wooden Award; Lute Olson Award). Garza is one of only two players in the nation (only player from a Power 5 Conference) averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds per game. He ranks first nationally with nine 20-point/10-rebound games this season, sixth in double-doubles (12), third in points per 40 minutes played (30.0), fifth in scoring (23.0), and 17th rebounding (10.4). His 12 double-doubles are the most by a Hawkeye in a single season since Reggie Evans’ 18 during the 2001-02 season. Garza has scored 25 points or more in seven games this season and has controlled eight rebounds or more in 17-of-21 contests, including 10 or more 11 times in 2019-20. He has grabbed 12 or more rebounds eight times this year. He snagged a career-best 18 boards twice this year (at Nebraska and versus Wisconsin). 

2) Will Illinois' defense travel again?

 During its current 7-game win streak, Illinois’ defense is allowing an average of just 57.7 points (404), 36.9 percent shooting (150-407), 28% 3-point shooting (33-118) and 4.7 made threes per game (33).  Illinois leads the Big Ten in scoring defense during league play, allowing 60.1 ppg. The Illini rank second in both field goal percentage defense (.378) and 3-point percentage defense (.270) in conference games. Illinois is looking to snap a 16-game skid against Top 25 opponents in true road games. Illinois beat No. 13 Maryland last season at Madison Square Garden, but the Illini’s last victory on a ranked team’s home court was a 66-63 win at No. 24 Iowa on March 8, 2014, on a Jon Ekey three with 0.5 seconds left. 

3) Illinois must keep Iowa off the foul line

Iowa has shot a high percentage from the foul line over its last six games, sinking 82 percent of its attempts (109-of-133). Joe Wieskamp, who is fourth in the Big Ten in free-throw accuracy, has gone 33-of-37 (.891) during the six-game stretch. For the year, Iowa has nearly made (334) more free throws than its opponents have attempted (340).

Prediction: Iowa 75, Illinois 71