On Tuesday night, the Iowa Men's basketball team traveled East across the border to take on rival Illinois. From the jump, Iowa looked like they had not gotten off the bus. The Illini would jump on them early and never looked back as they won in dominating fashion 81-61 at home.
Illinois never trailed in this game, and after the first nine minutes, Tomislav Ivisic had as many points (11) as the Iowa team. This would be a microcosm for the rest of the game as Iowa went into the half trailing by seven, 37-30.
The Hawkeyes started the second half as slow as they started the first half, as the Illini went on a 26-8 run in the first 6 minutes to set the tone for the rest of the half. The Fighting Illini dominated in every facet of this game and ran the Hawkeyes out of the gym on a big performance at the State Farm Center.
In my pregame keys to the game, I implored Iowa to get Dix/Sandfort going early, for them to take and make high-percentage shots, and to limit turnovers. Suffice it to say, they did none of those things and got blown out as a result.
Illinois does what they do best and held the Hawkeyes to 42 percent shooting, with Dix/Sandfort combining for 18 points on 8/20 shooting from the floor. They also forced 16 turnovers and scored 17 points off of those turnovers in a dominating defensive performance.
Iowa couldn't get anything going against a stout Illinois defense, and the Hawkeyes' defense couldn't stop anyone, allowing four out of five Fighting Illini starters to score in double figures. Tomislav Ivisic paced Illinois with 22 points, four rebounds, and five assists as the Fighting Illini big man was finally 100 percent.
Iowa will try to put this horrendous game behind them as they take on Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois, on Friday, Feb. 28. Illinois will look to carry momentum into their next contest as they face a tough test versus No. 15 Michigan.