JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Prior to today’s game against Illinois, the Iowa Hawkeyes had lost their last five Big Ten Tournament games. They had also dropped seven straight overall against the Fighting Illini. Those streaks are over, as is Iowa's four year streak of losing seasons.
Iowa beat Illinois 64-61 in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament despite going the final 9:19 without a field goal. Iowa took a 57-50 lead on a Matt Gatens jumper with 9:19 to play.
The Hawkeye defense was good enough down the stretch and they made just enough field goals to preserve the win, but things were not looking so good in the first half.
While Illinois led just 31-27 at the break, the Illini were having their way on the backboards as the Hawkeyes had just two offensive rebounds in the first half on 11-25 shooting. It was a one and done situation and the Hawks were in danger of going one and done in this tournament for the sixth straight year. The Illini shot 50% in the first half and had 11 assists on 14 field goals, with 18 of their 31 points coming on easy baskets in the paint.
Meyers Leonard was once again the culprit, as he made 5 of 6 in the first half and had ten points. During the first nine of the second half, Meyers was still having his way. He had four baskets during that stretch, including two dunks and Illinois trailed 50-48 at that point. However, those would be the last points Meyer would score all game as Iowa was in the midst of a 20-6 run and would open up an eight point lead at 58-50 with 6:10 to play in the game.
The Hawkeyes forced the tempo and wore Leonard out and barely had enough in their own tanks to finish the game. Illinois hit a trey with 00:16 to play to pull to within one, but Iowa was able to inbound the ball to Gatens who broke away and ran six seconds off the clock before he was fouled. The Big Ten’s 4th best free-throw shooter of all time nailed both of them and Illinois missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.
Gatens led Iowa with 20 points, the seventh straight game he has led Iowa in scoring. The last Hawkeye to lead his team in scoring seven straight games was Andre Woolridge in 1997. Gatens now has 1,611 points tying him for 6th place all time at Iowa with Jess Settles. Over those seven games, Gatens is averaging right at 23 points per contest.
One of the biggest keys in this game was how well Iowa took care of the ball; the Hawkeyes committed just four turnovers in the first half and only two in the second for an excellent total of six. Illinois turned it over 12 times and Iowa had a 15-5 advantage off turnovers.
Iowa also enjoyed a 15-8 advantage on second chance points. The Hawkeyes had a mind blowing 14 offensive rebounds in the second half after just two in the first half. Iowa won the battle of the boars 39-35 and 16-11 on the offensive end.
After getting outscored by over 40 points in Champaign, the Iowa bench played even with Illinois in this game with 16 for each team. Iowa also scored 11 fast break points to just four for Illinois. Iowa shot just 40.4% for the game compared to 43.5% for Illinois.
Perhaps the stat of the year is Iowa attempted 19 free throws in this game (making 12) while Illinois didn’t have one free throw attempt. I felt the game was one of the better officiated games of the season, despite Leonard receiving Michael Jordan-esque calls on more than one occasion.
Aaron White scored 13 points for Iowa to go along with nine rebounds. Bryce Cartwright had seven assists to just two turnovers. Josh Oglesby scored eight points, including two big three-point shots at critical junctures.
The Hawkeyes expended a great deal of effort on Thursday and the task will be tall in round two as they will play top seeded Michigan State at 11am central to be broadcast on ESPN.
Iowa has played themselves onto the NIT bubble. A win against Michigan State would likely lock up an NIT bid but also keep slim NCAA hopes alive. The Spartans are not pleased with how they ended the regular season, losing their last two games to fall into a three-way tie for the league title.
Regardless of that outcome, Iowa now sits at 17-15 on the season. That means the worst winning percentage they could end the season with, if they are invited to a post-season event, is .500. That's great progress for program who is trying to shake off it's worst three year stretch in school history.
Iowa beat Illinois 64-61 in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament despite going the final 9:19 without a field goal. Iowa took a 57-50 lead on a Matt Gatens jumper with 9:19 to play.
The Hawkeye defense was good enough down the stretch and they made just enough field goals to preserve the win, but things were not looking so good in the first half.
While Illinois led just 31-27 at the break, the Illini were having their way on the backboards as the Hawkeyes had just two offensive rebounds in the first half on 11-25 shooting. It was a one and done situation and the Hawks were in danger of going one and done in this tournament for the sixth straight year. The Illini shot 50% in the first half and had 11 assists on 14 field goals, with 18 of their 31 points coming on easy baskets in the paint.
Meyers Leonard was once again the culprit, as he made 5 of 6 in the first half and had ten points. During the first nine of the second half, Meyers was still having his way. He had four baskets during that stretch, including two dunks and Illinois trailed 50-48 at that point. However, those would be the last points Meyer would score all game as Iowa was in the midst of a 20-6 run and would open up an eight point lead at 58-50 with 6:10 to play in the game.
The Hawkeyes forced the tempo and wore Leonard out and barely had enough in their own tanks to finish the game. Illinois hit a trey with 00:16 to play to pull to within one, but Iowa was able to inbound the ball to Gatens who broke away and ran six seconds off the clock before he was fouled. The Big Ten’s 4th best free-throw shooter of all time nailed both of them and Illinois missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.
Gatens led Iowa with 20 points, the seventh straight game he has led Iowa in scoring. The last Hawkeye to lead his team in scoring seven straight games was Andre Woolridge in 1997. Gatens now has 1,611 points tying him for 6th place all time at Iowa with Jess Settles. Over those seven games, Gatens is averaging right at 23 points per contest.
One of the biggest keys in this game was how well Iowa took care of the ball; the Hawkeyes committed just four turnovers in the first half and only two in the second for an excellent total of six. Illinois turned it over 12 times and Iowa had a 15-5 advantage off turnovers.
Iowa also enjoyed a 15-8 advantage on second chance points. The Hawkeyes had a mind blowing 14 offensive rebounds in the second half after just two in the first half. Iowa won the battle of the boars 39-35 and 16-11 on the offensive end.
After getting outscored by over 40 points in Champaign, the Iowa bench played even with Illinois in this game with 16 for each team. Iowa also scored 11 fast break points to just four for Illinois. Iowa shot just 40.4% for the game compared to 43.5% for Illinois.
Perhaps the stat of the year is Iowa attempted 19 free throws in this game (making 12) while Illinois didn’t have one free throw attempt. I felt the game was one of the better officiated games of the season, despite Leonard receiving Michael Jordan-esque calls on more than one occasion.
Aaron White scored 13 points for Iowa to go along with nine rebounds. Bryce Cartwright had seven assists to just two turnovers. Josh Oglesby scored eight points, including two big three-point shots at critical junctures.
The Hawkeyes expended a great deal of effort on Thursday and the task will be tall in round two as they will play top seeded Michigan State at 11am central to be broadcast on ESPN.
Iowa has played themselves onto the NIT bubble. A win against Michigan State would likely lock up an NIT bid but also keep slim NCAA hopes alive. The Spartans are not pleased with how they ended the regular season, losing their last two games to fall into a three-way tie for the league title.
Regardless of that outcome, Iowa now sits at 17-15 on the season. That means the worst winning percentage they could end the season with, if they are invited to a post-season event, is .500. That's great progress for program who is trying to shake off it's worst three year stretch in school history.
