Illinois Basketball: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Iowa

5. Illinois needs to stop fouling

The loss last night was extremely disappointing for many reasons. Illinois is now pretty much eliminated from the NCAA tournament barring some miracle regular season run or a Big Ten Tournament run that ends up being a victory in the championship game.

Another reason this loss was disappointing is because of how the Illini lost the game. They had full control over Iowa for much of the contest. But, they couldn’t stop fouling. They not only let their foot off the gas but they ended up with 31 fouls on the night, and this led to Iowa shooting a whopping 40 free throws. If you think about it, I am impressed Illinois was even in the game against Iowa.

Illinois only managed to shoot 14 free throws on the night and made 11 of them. Iowa ended up making 33 of their 40 free throws. That is 22 free throws made margin between the Hawkeyes and the Illini. Yes, Illinois still managed to take this team into overtime. This shouldn’t have even been a contest.

On top of all the fouls that Illinois was committing, three of the four players who ended up fouling out were experienced players. Leron Black left the game and he is a redshirt junior. Mark Alstork went out with five fouls and he is a graduate transfer. And Kipper Nichols is a sophomore this season and he fouled out. The only player to foul out who wasn’t an upperclassman was Da’Monte Williams, and he is all over the floor and playing great defense. I understand his fouling out.

Next: Ayo Dosunmu will break Illini McDAAG dry spell

Illinois essentially handed Iowa the game on Thursday night. They let them shoot 40 free throws. It is difficult for the Illini to win games with such a young lineup, but then you add in the experienced players giving the other team points and it is almost impossible to win.