The Iowa basketball team ended a fantastic season on Saturday by losing in the Elite Eight to Illinois. Iowa bowed in a 71-59 game to their Big Ten rival. It was tough to stomach for Iowa fans, who saw the no. 9 seed Hawkeyes go on a fabulous March Madness run.
Even though Iowa wasn't favored to win the game, the Hawkeyes nearly were able to pull off yet another upset in this year's NCAA tournament. Here are a few reasons why Iowa is most to blame for the Illinois loss.
Iowa had a halftime lead they couldn't protect
It wasn't as if Iowa was beaten from the opening tip-off of this game. The Hawkeyes had it going early, keeping the Illinois defense on their heels. It was the same formula that worked for Iowa in the Florida game–pass the basketball, and keep the opponent's defense moving.
As a result, Iowa had a four point lead going into the break. It looked good for this Hawkeyes squad, if they could only keep making shots in the second half.
They unfortunately didn't. Even though the team still had a lead with less than eight minutes left in the game, Iowa couldn't keep the offense going down the stretch.
“After shooting 57% from the field and 50% from deep in the first half, offense was harder to come by for Iowa in the second half. The Hawkeyes shot just 23% from the field and 28% from deep in the second half,” HawkCentral reported.
Iowa got out hustled on the glass
The battle for rebounds was not Iowa's strength in this game. Illinois ended up out rebounding Iowa, 38-21.
“Yeah, first off, congrats to Illinois. They played a heck of a game. I thought they did a good job getting offensive rebounds. We probably missed a few box-outs or whatnot. But they played a good game and certainly congrats to them and their season,” Iowa head coach Ben McCollum said postgame, per the school.
Those missed rebounds hurt Iowa, especially in the second half of the game. Illinois was able to go on a key 8-0 run late in the second half, which ultimately was the difference in the game.
Don't lose heart, Iowa fans. The Hawkeyes made the Elite Eight in what was Ben McCollum's first season as head coach. No Iowa fan feels that this was a disappointment, and they shouldn't.
The future certainly looks bright for the Iowa basketball program. This campaign was the school's first Elite Eight appearance since 1987.
