No. 12 Illinois Pulls Away from Iowa
Iowa Basketball overcame a trend of fading late in road games with a win at Michigan State Tuesday. Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes they reverted back to their old ways Saturday at No. 12 Illinois.
Trailing by one point with 8:32 left in regulation, the Illini rallied for a 95-85 victory at the State Farm Center in Champaign. A 7-0 run starting with 5:07 on the clock until 2:32 remained put them ahead by 10. Iowa got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
The Hawkeyes came close to winning their two road games prior to the East Lansing trip. They led with less than two minutes remaining at Indiana and were tied with Penn State with four minutes on the clock only to drop those contests.
Like those occasions, Illinois cranked up its defense in the final 10 minutes and the Hawkeyes couldn't match the opposition's ability to get stops. Iowa yielded 28 points in the game's final 9:53.
Illinois held a 44-43 lead after a first half that saw 10 lead changes. Iowa shot 62 percent from the floor, and the Illini knocked down seven three-pointers before the break.
Saturday's setback put a dent in the Hawkeyes' quest for a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. They began the day 63rd in the Net Rankings and needing quality wins.
The good news is that they still have resume-building opportunities in their final three regular-season games. Their contests at Northwestern and at home against Illinois will be Quad 1 chances. Wednesday's meeting with Penn State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be Quad 3.
The Hawkeyes (16-12 overall, 8-9 Big Ten) would put themselves on the right side of the bubble if they win out. Finish 2-1, and they'll likely need to make the semifinals in next month's conference tournament for a Big Dance invite.
TAKEAWAYS FROM SATURDAY
-Illinois defended three of Iowa's top four scorers well. Tony Perkins, Payton Sandfort and Owen Freeman entered the game averaging a combined 41.6 points. Although they teamed up for 38 Saturday, together they were 10 of 30 from the floor.
They did collect 23 of the team's 32 rebounds.
-Lost in the loss will be the performance by Hawkeye Josh Dix. The sophomore netted 20 points and did an excellent job defending high-flying Terrence Shannon Jr., who shot 2 of 7 from behind the arc in scoring 12.
Dix reached the 20-point plateau for the second time in his young career.
-The Hawkeyes shot 62.1 percent in the first half. The fall after the intermission was precipitous with them managing just 35.3, including misfiring on 5 of 6 trey attempts.
-Ben Krikke appears to have gotten back on track. He followed up an 18-point, 14-rebound performance at Michigan State with 15 points and five boards on Saturday.
In two games this week, the Valparaiso transfer shot 14 of 20 from the floor. He struggled in guarding Illinois' Coleman Hawkins early in the game before being given a different defensive assignment.
-Speaking of defense, the Hawkeyes were not good overall in Champaign. They tried man-to-man and zone.
The Illini's length and quickness broke them down in man. Iowa struggled to rebound out of the zone.
-The Hawkeyes leaned heavily on the starters. Four of the five guys played at least 30 minutes with the fifth, Freeman, logging 29.
Patrick McCaffery played 21 off the bench, but Ladji Dembele (7), Brock Harding (7) and Pryce Sandfort (4) were the only other reserves to see minutes. Backup point guard Dasonte Bowen did not play for a third game in a row.
