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Illinois Basketball: 3 easy fixes for the Illini against Iowa

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 22: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) boxes out under the basket during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 22, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - FEBRUARY 22: Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) boxes out under the basket during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 22, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Illinois basketball team tips off the Big Ten Tournament today against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

This is the first time the conference tournament has been held in New York City, and the Illini are looking to make a run to the title. They first have to go through a floundering Hawkeyes team to get there.

Iowa finished 13-18 this season with a 4-14 Big Ten record. They won their last game against Northwestern but lost their previous six before that. They aren’t exactly playing well right now. But, Iowa did beat the Illini in their lone matchup this season.

Illinois seemed to have had control in the only game against the Hawkeyes back on January 11. The Illini took a halftime lead 54-41 and should have coasted to a solid victory. But, that seemed to have been their mindset in the second half and Iowa took advantage. The Hawkeyes ended up sending the game to overtime and beat Illinois 14-7 in the extra period.

There were a few things that went wrong for the Illini in the first game that they need to fix heading into the first round tonight. The first thing is Leron Black’s fouls.

Black – even of late – has been fouling at a high rate. In the first game against Iowa, he fouled out of the game and was only able to play a total of 18 minutes. Illinois is going to need him for more time than that tonight. He still ended up with 18 points and three rebounds in that game, though.

The free throw disparity was another shocker in the first game. Illinois only got to the free throw line 14 times and made 11. But, Iowa was able to get to the charity stripe 40 times and made 33 of those free throws. Giving the opposing team 40 free shots at the basket for any team will lose a game. The fact the Illini still had this game go into overtime is a miracle. Let’s be more disciplined and don’t let Iowa score so many points at the free throw line.

The final thing that jumps out to me is the rebounding differential. Illinois finished the first game with 26 rebounds compared to Iowa’s 45 rebounds. That is a massive difference in scoring opportunities. 17 of those rebounds for the Hawkeyes were offensive. They had a lot of second-chance opportunities.

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If Illinois wants to survive and advance they are going to need to keep Black in the game, be more disciplined with their fouls and attack the boards. Improve on those three things from the first game and we will likely be seeing the Illini playing on day two.

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