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basketball Edit

Illini still fighting, steal road win at Iowa

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Although most people have written off the Illinois basketball season, the players haven’t given in and are still competing. Coming off a bad home loss to Penn State, the Illini bounced back with a solid effort in Iowa City and came away with a 70-66 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Malcolm Hill led the way for Illinois with 21 points and 8 rebounds, while Michael Finke, Jalen Coleman-Lands and Te’Jon Lucas all pitched in with 12 as Illinois moved to 15-12 and 5-9 in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes were hoping to make a run and get an NIT bid but this loss makes it a bit tougher, falling to 14-13 and 6-8 in league play.

Here’s a look at the action.

Illinois Fighting Illini guard Malcolm Hill (21) goes to the basket as Iowa Hawkeyes forward Nicholas Baer (51) defends during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Illinois Fighting Illini guard Malcolm Hill (21) goes to the basket as Iowa Hawkeyes forward Nicholas Baer (51) defends during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. (Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports)
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THESE THREE THINGS

1. Defense wins on the road – Illinois held Iowa to under 40% shooting and forced them to turn it over 21% of the time. Iowa scored 0.93 PPP and looked terrible on offense, staying in the game with 13-17 FT shooting in the second half. Illinois wasn’t great on offense, but if you defend and force the opponents to take difficult shots you can compete in every game. That’s what Illinois had failed to do in their first 5 road games but in the last two roadies defense has allowed them a chance to win at the end.

2. A game of runs – The Illini got out to a 12-6 lead, before Iowa went on a 9-0 run to make it 15-12 Iowa. Trailing 26-18 it looked like the Illini could have another double digit first half deficit. However, the Illini would close the half on a 7-3 spurt to make it a 4-point halftime deficit. That’s manageable. To start the second half Illinois would fall behind 38-31 before a 9-0 run put them back in front at 40-38. The Illini would take a 50-46 before an 8-0 run by Iowa gave them a 4-point lead. A 10-2 run would give the Illini the lead for good and despite some missed free throws down the stretch the Illini would hold on for the win. The ability of the Illini to withstand these runs, and bring some of their own, showed some resiliency that we haven’t always seen.

3. No mas – Illinois didn’t play Jaylon Tate for two games, using Tracy Abrams as the backup PG, but on Saturday the Illini used Jaylon Tate for 7 minutes and he was a -9 on the plus minus chart. Te’Jon Lucas can’t play 40 minutes, but at the same time when he leaves the game the Illini struggle to score. They turn it over and don’t defend. If you need to give him a blow, use Hill at the 1 and play someone else on the wing.

NOTABLE

*Illinois scored 0.99 PPP and held the Hawkeyes to a 0.93 PPP. Both teams struggled with turnovers, Illinois turning it over 17 times and Iowa 15.

*Jalen Coleman-Lands making 4-10 from deep is a positive event for Illinois and makes this a much better team. The biggest play of the game was when Iowa failed to corral a rebound and saved it under their own basket before Coleman-Lands drained a 3 and gave the Illini the lead and changed the momentum. It also gave JCL some confidence and his dagger 3 later opened it up a bit.

*Malcolm Hill did a bit of everything. He attacks Jok when he puts it on the floor and picked him twice, while scoring 21 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. Hill was the best player on the floor this day and led the Illini as a Senior should.

*The maturation of Michael Finke is fun to watch. He’s shooting the ball with confidence, and has even added some dribble drive and dished out 5 assists. He needs to rebound better, which is something that’s a concern, but his offensive skills are very good and expanding.

*Te’Jon Lucas needs to play a lot, but he also is still a freshman and still learning. He had 4 turnovers and just 2 assists and also made just 3-7 free throws. He is shooting below 60% from the line and that’s an area of concern at the end of games when teams are fouling.

*Leron Black was a -9 in 8 minutes and just didn’t have a very good game despite one awesome drive and dunk. He needs to do more of that. Although Black was money on mid-range jumpers early on, he’s been less consistent of late and is now shooting 46% on those shots. He could be more.

*Iowa has a nice group of freshmen in Cook, Bohannon, Moss and Pemsl and a couple of nice players coming in, but outside of Peter Jok not much from their other 3 classes. Nicholas Baer is probably the one guy that gets a lot done on the floor and Ellingson can shoot it, but they need some more depth and athleticism.

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