Who’s Playing
Iowa Hawkeyes @ Illinois Fighting Illini
Current Records: Iowa 16-11, Illinois 19-7
How To Watch
What to Know
Iowa and the Fighting Illini are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2018, but not for long. Both teams will face off in a Big Ten battle at 2:15 p.m. ET on Saturday at State Farm Center. Illinois took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Iowa, who comes in off a win.
Michigan State typically has all the answers at home, but on Tuesday Iowa proved too difficult a challenge. They came out on top against the Spartans by a score of 78-71. The win made it back-to-back wins for Iowa.
Iowa got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Ben Krikke out in front who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds. Krikke didn’t help Iowa’s cause all that much against the Badgers on Saturday but the same can’t be said for this matchup. The team also got some help courtesy of Payton Sandfort, who scored 22 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, the point spread may have favored Illinois on Wednesday, but the final result did not. They lost 90-89 to the Nittany Lions on a last-minute free throw From Zach Hicks. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Saturday (85), Illinois still had to take the loss.
Terrence Shannon Jr. put forth a good effort for the losing side as he dropped a double-double on 35 points and 11 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that’s the most points he has scored all season.
Even though they lost, Illinois smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Penn State only pulled down five offensive rebounds.
The Hawkeyes’ victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 16-11. As for the Fighting Illini, their loss dropped their record down to 19-7.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the pair are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Iowa hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 83.4 points per game. However, it’s not like Illinois struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 83.3 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Iowa came out on top in a nail-biter against the Fighting Illini in their previous matchup back in February of 2023, sneaking past 81-79. The rematch might be a little tougher for Iowa since the team won’t have the home-court advantage this time around. We’ll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Series History
Illinois and Iowa both have 5 wins in their last 10 games.
- Feb 04, 2023 – Iowa 81 vs. Illinois 79
- Mar 06, 2022 – Illinois 74 vs. Iowa 72
- Dec 06, 2021 – Illinois 87 vs. Iowa 83
- Mar 13, 2021 – Illinois 82 vs. Iowa 71
- Jan 29, 2021 – Illinois 80 vs. Iowa 75
- Mar 08, 2020 – Illinois 78 vs. Iowa 76
- Feb 02, 2020 – Iowa 72 vs. Illinois 65
- Mar 14, 2019 – Iowa 83 vs. Illinois 62
- Jan 20, 2019 – Iowa 95 vs. Illinois 71
- Feb 28, 2018 – Iowa 96 vs. Illinois 87
