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Iowa Basketball: Hawkeyes Upset by Illinois in Big Ten Tournament

By Kenny Levine

Mar 10, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes forward Nicholas Baer (51) is involved in a scramble for a loose ball against Illinois Fighting Illini guard Khalid Lewis (3) during the Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes forward Nicholas Baer (51) is involved in a scramble for a loose ball against Illinois Fighting Illini guard Khalid Lewis (3) during the Big Ten Conference tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Iowa Basketball team could not continue the momentum gained from the win at Michigan and were upset by 12th seeded Illinois in the 2nd round of the Big Ten Tournament.

I feel like we’ve seen this story before.  Iowa heads into the Big Ten Tournament, with a great match-up coming up if they can just get by the double-digit seed.  For the third season in a row, Iowa lost to the double-digit seed, this year it was against Illinois.

Illinois really controlled the game from start to finish.  They got out to an early lead, as much as 11 in the first half, as Iowa could not get anything going on offense.  Then Peter Jok caught fire.  Jok went on a streak of scoring 17 of 19 Iowa points and the Hawkeyes grabbed the lead momentarily.  Although Illinois went into halftime with a 37-35 lead, Iowa still had some momentum.

But then Iowa could not stop the Illini after the break.  Much like the first half, nobody except Jarrod Uthoff and Jok could get anything going.  Jalen Coleman-Lands and Kendrick Nunn could not be stopped.  They went a combined 7-11, including five threes in the first 8 minutes of the half and Illinois regained its 11 point lead.

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Disaster struck for Iowa as Peter Jok and Jalen Coleman-Lands get tangled up under the basket, and were both hit with technical fouls, and the bad news was that it went as Jok’s fifth personal foul, and he fouled out with 29 points.    Iowa trailed 66-57 at the under 4 timeout.  Iowa put on the full court press that has worked so well all year, and forced numerous Illinois turnovers.

After scoring zero points to that point, the bench scored the next eight points for Iowa, with Nicholas Baer capping off a furious 11-0 rally with a three-point play.  Malcolm Hill buried a jumper to give the Illini a 68-66 lead with just over a minute left in the game.  From there, Iowa had two bad possessions, including a dreadful last possession of the game.

With 15 seconds left, Iowa had the ball down by 2.  Mike Gesell dribbled into traffic and got tied up.  Iowa had the possession arrow, and got the ball back with a second chance.  Illinois did a good job of denying Jarrod Uthoff the ball, so Gesell threw it up for grabs and the ball bounced off Dom Uhl‘s hands, and Illinois got the ball, effectively ending the game.

Next: Uthoff and Jok Named All-Big Ten

It’s another frustrating early exit for Iowa in the Big Ten tournament.  This team had some positive vibes after the road win at Michigan, and lost all of that with a loss against an Illinois team that it really should have beaten.  Just like Northwestern in 2014 and Penn State last year, Iowa came out with less energy and were out-hustled, and took too long to really get going and it cost them.  Illinois will be moving on to play Purdue in the quarterfinals and Iowa will have a couple days to relax before selection Sunday.

This team is still getting into the tournament, but losing this early in the Big Ten Tournament is really getting old.  The next game for Iowa will be either Thursday or Friday.

Stay locked into Dear Old Gold for constant coverage of the Hawkeyes.

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