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Illinois Basketball: 3 ways the Illini can take down Iowa

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood claps after a play during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood claps after a play during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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IOWA CITY. IA- FEBRUARY 02: Iowa guard Joe Wieskamp (10) takes a shot over Illinois center Kofi Cockburn (21) during a Big Ten Conference basketball game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City Ia, on February 02, 2020. Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team is going up against a tough Iowa Hawkeyes program for the second time around.

In the first game this season, Iowa took down the Illini. It was a good game in Iowa City. Illinois had a one-point lead at halftime, but Luke Garza and Company were just too much for the Orange and Blue. They were hitting shots from everywhere on the court, and we couldn’t stop them.

As a team, the Illini didn’t play bad on the offensive end. We shot 41.4-percent from the field, 36.4-percent from three-point range and hit 9-of-11 free throws. Those aren’t bad numbers. But Iowa’s numbers were insane. They were 50-percent from the field, 43.5-percent from the three-point arc and 70.6-percent from the charity stripe.

It is nearly impossible to beat a team like Iowa on the road shooting the way they shot the last time around. Illinois was still close to pulling off the win, though. That means we aren’t far away from beating down this Iowa team. Just a few things need to change for the Illini to have success in this game on Sunday.

Here are three ways the Illini can take down the Iowa Hawkeyes the second time around.

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