The No.5-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes (21-9) and Illinois Fighting Illini (14-18) meet in the second round of the Big 10 tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Action begins at 2:25 pm ET on Thursday, Mar. 10 and can be seen on BTN.
The Hawkeyes played well in their last game, topping Michigan 71-61 in their last matchup. Jarrod Uthoff was the game’s leading scorer with 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting. The Fighting Illini, meanwhile, are coming off an 85-52 win against Minnesota in the 1. Kendrick Nunn had a good game for Illinois, accounting for 15 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
Scoring opportunities from the charity stripe may be sporadic for the Fighting Illini in this one. They’re 314th in the nation in FTA rate (31.1), while Iowa is among the nation’s least foul-prone teams (yielding a rate of 25.7, ranking sixth overall).
This is the second game of the year between these two teams, with the Hawkeyes winning the first matchup 77-65. Peter Jok had a standout performance in the victory, putting up 23 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and three three-pointers.
Notes
In its last game, Illinois won by a margin of 33 points. Iowa is 7-0 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Illinois has a 1-4 record in blowouts.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have a defensive rating of 99.3 (ranked 38th), while the Illinois Fighting Illini have an offensive rating of 104.3 (ranked 206th).
The Iowa Hawkeyes average a field goal percentage of 45.2% this season. The Illinois Fighting Illini have a subpar record of 4-10 when opponents have a FG% of 45.2% or greater.
The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Illinois Fighting Illini both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. Iowa is 121st and 104th in the nation for FG% and eFG% respectively, while Illinois is 214th and 171st in these categories.
Iowa ranks 37th in assists, registering 15.9 per game. Illinois performs worse at 168th with 13.5 assists per game.
Iowa, the 34th-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 4.9 per game. Illinois does worse, ranked 337th with 1.8.
Iowa ranks 99th in offensive rebounding. Illinois ranks 254th in defensive rebounding.
The Iowa Hawkeyes average 6.8 steals per game. When giving up 6 or more steals, the Illinois Fighting Illini have a poor record (4-10) this season.
