The Illinois basketball team had a tough matchup on their hands in the second installment of the game against Iowa.
The Hawkeyes came in as the No. 18 team in the nation and with hopes of locking down the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Illinois needed to win this game too, though. They wanted the coveted double-bye. This was a great game from the tip.
Iowa started the game off quickly. They jumped out to a double-digit lead at 27-17 less than 10 minutes into the game. But Illinois wasn’t just going to lay down in this game. The Orange and Blue came fighting back.
With 5:33 left in the first half, Illinois tied the game up at 33-33. Iowa got a hold of the lead by five points again, but the Illini went on a little run and even took the lead at 41-39. Iowa hit a shot going into halftime to tie up the score at 41-41.
Illinois started the second half hot. They were hitting shots and playing great team basketball. The Illini took their first double-digit lead less than seven minutes into the second half. This lead grew to 16 points at one time, but the Hawkeyes stormed back.
Iowa narrowed the deficit to two points late in the game, but Illinois came up clutch with a couple of big shots down the stretch to win the game over the Hawkeyes, 78-76.
Here are three observations from the Illini win over Iowa.