Illinois scored 106 points to defeat Iowa in their opening Big 10 tournament game. Great games by Ivisic (19 pts, 10 rebounds)
White (22 pts), Riley (21 pts, 7 rebounds), and especially Boswell (24 pts, 7 assists). Illinois dominated the boards with 41, including 14 offensive rebounds. They made 12 of 26 threes, but also had 44 pts in the paint. Senior Payton Sandfort had a career game for the Hawkeyes with 30 pts, making 8 treys.
The Illini will face Maryland tomorrow, this will be a very tough match up.
Illini win vs Iowa
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Re: Illini win vs Iowa
that was probably the best offensive performance by this team since the Oregon game. Balance as you said, inside - outside flow, getting and taking mostly uncontested shots. Any time you have 20+ assists, you are running some high level offense and playing within your skill sets. I'd have to check, but I don't think Boswell made more than 4 treys combined the whole month of Feb, and then he drops 4 last night. Good on him, but let's not hope he takes 7 treys again. That's not a formula that's worked out well this year very often. Taking 30 FTs is a fantastic thing to aim for. Get to the rim and get fouled or kick out for open looks.
Now on defense.....oof. I realize that Sandfort is not going to make most of those treys most nights. At point in the second half I thought "he's not going to miss the rest of the game and they're going to claw back into it"....luckily he started missing finally with about 4 mins left. The pessimist in my says Iowa is a lower-tier team and they dropped 94 and shot 55%. Is that just a good shooting night or poor defense?
I said last week that I thought Maryland was the only team we couldn't beat ....hope I'm wrong. I suspect Morez will get more than 11 mins today. Hope coach has put in some kind of adjustment to deal with the twin towers. At the very least they'll have to deal with Ivisic this time around and guard a 5-out. Whoever gets into foul trouble will be the difference I think.
Now on defense.....oof. I realize that Sandfort is not going to make most of those treys most nights. At point in the second half I thought "he's not going to miss the rest of the game and they're going to claw back into it"....luckily he started missing finally with about 4 mins left. The pessimist in my says Iowa is a lower-tier team and they dropped 94 and shot 55%. Is that just a good shooting night or poor defense?
I said last week that I thought Maryland was the only team we couldn't beat ....hope I'm wrong. I suspect Morez will get more than 11 mins today. Hope coach has put in some kind of adjustment to deal with the twin towers. At the very least they'll have to deal with Ivisic this time around and guard a 5-out. Whoever gets into foul trouble will be the difference I think.
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KnuckleHeadFred
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Re: Illini win vs Iowa
The last time we played Maryland, Isivic, as you said was out with mono, but also Morez got in foul trouble and only played 19 minutes. Hopefully we can slow down their inside attack. Queen is an outstanding player and Julian Reese has always been a pain in our side, so it will be tough.