No. 19 University of Iowa men’s basketball team kept the game close making several runs in the second half but fell to No. 16 Illinois in the end, 75-69, in front of 13,000+ at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Illinois controlled the first 10 minutes of the game, using a 13-0 run, to build a 21-5 lead. The Hawkeyes were held scoreless for nearly five minutes as they started the game just 2-of-10 from the field.
After trailing by as many as 18, Iowa cut the lead down to nine with two minutes left in the half as they held Illinois scoreless for nearly three minutes. At the break, Iowa trailed Illinois, 35-24.
Tavion Banks and Tate Sage led the way for Iowa in the first half combining to score 10 points. The Hawkeyes shot 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from the field and 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from 3-point range.
Illinois built their lead back up to 17, before the Hawkeyes used a 14-5 run midway through the second half to cut the deficit to five and went on to trim it to just four with a minute left. The Hawkeyes weren’t able to cut into the lead any further as Illinois was able to clinch the game at the free throw line.
Head Coach Ben McCollum was excited about the largest crowd of the season for a Men’s game at home. “First off, this is awesome as to what we’re starting to get going with the crowd and starting to get some excitement. We greatly appreciate it. Keep coming, keep fighting, keep doing those things, we will too. Disappointing we lost but happy to see what we’re slowly building and what we’ll continue to build and continue to fight for. Appreciate the cheering and all those things. It doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Disappointed in our start. I’m disappointed in a few guys in the start. Whether its sick or whatever, Tavion probably lost 10 pounds the last two days, was throwing up in the locker room afterwards, and he didn’t seem to have any issues. I’m disappointed in that, really disappointed. I’m happy with the comeback, but not overly, you need to win these. It’s time to win these games. We proved that we can, but we haven’t proved that we actually will and it’s time to do that. We’ve got a great opportunity next game, people think that when we took this over, it’s like man how can they get to a certain point that quickly and people probably still think I’m crazy, but I see it. It’s coming. We’re getting there. You see the crowd coming, you see us winning games, obviously we dropped two we probably shouldn’t have but its building. We’re going to keep fighting for that.”
Banks led Iowa with 16 points on 8-of-14 from the field. The Kansas City, Mo. native added seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Sage finished with 13 points and four rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting. Stirtz added 12 points while dishing out six assists. Cooper Koch rounded out Hawkeyes in double digits with 10 points.
The Hawkeyes shot 27-of-66 (40.9 percent) from the field and 9-of-29 (31 percent) from beyond the arc. Iowa was perfect from the charity stripe shooting 6-of-6. Iowa’s bench poured in 36 points. The Hawkeyes move to 12-4 on the season and 2-3 in conference play.
Iowa begins a two-game road stint Wednesday, traveling to West Lafayette for a game against nationally-ranked Purdue. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. on KWPC, the Voice of Muscatine. Coverage is brought to you by Meineke Muffler, Ed Morse Chevy, Buick and GMC, Muscatine Power and Water and Community Health Care Dental Clinic.
