It was never going to be fun to see Iowa's current winning streak (five games, entering Sunday's showdown with Illinois) end, but losing it like that... ugh. That was a definite punch to the gut. Several punches to the gut, really. After a hot-shooting first half in which Iowa scored on 11 consecutive possessions at one point and opened up a 15-point lead, the Hawkeyes saw that lead slowly, inexorably slip away in the second half, before Illinois eventually edged out Iowa, 74-72.
Iowa's offense took off like a rocket in the first half after a sluggish start. From being down 17-16 at the midway point of the half, Iowa went on a 16-2 run to open up a 32-19 lead just four minutes later. They stretched that lead to 43-28 three minutes later. Unfortunately, they didn't score the rest of the half and Illinois ended the half on an 8-0 run to trim Iowa's lead in half (43-36) heading into the break. Illinois tied the game at 46-all four minutes into the second half and by then all memories of Iowa's big first half lead were long gone. The rest of the game was a dogfight, with both teams trading the lead and neither team able to open up a huge lead before the other team would claw back with a few made shots or key stops.
The hot shooting by Iowa cooled off -- after shooting 52% in the first half (including that stretch of 11 straight possessions with points), Iowa had multiple cold spells in the second half and shot just 35% from the floor overall. In addition to missed free throws (more on that in a moment), Iowa also missed a bushel of layups, often shots were the ball went halfway down and then rimmed out. Missed shots were a regular feature of Iowa's offense in the second half; lots of perfectly good looks simply went for naught, including one at the very end of the game. Kris Murray got a pretty good look at a game-winning three with the clock winding down, but his shot wasn't pure and it clanked off the rim as time expired.
Losses are never about just one thing and there are certainly multiple factors that you can point to behind Iowa's loss here. But one factor that sticks out in the box score with flashing lights and sirens is free throw shooting. It was bad. Correction: it was horrendous. Iowa, typically one of the best free throw-shooting teams in the entire country (76%, 43rd best nationally), went 10/22 (45%) from the line in the game. They went a dismal 6/16 from the line in the second half. They missed seven free throws in the final seven minutes, including two-of-three from Keegan Murray with 15 seconds to go when Iowa had a chance to tie or take the lead. Those misses were uncharacteristic for Keegan, though; he shot 6/8 from the line overall and made his previous five attempts. He was the only Iowa player who could reliably hit free throws in this game, though; Kris Murray went 1/7 at the line and Tony Perkins was just 3/7 from the charity stripe. In a game that Iowa lost by just two points, all those missed free throws really stand out. If Iowa shoots their normal rate at the line, they would have scored another 6-7 points -- and likely won this game.
It's unfortunate that the poor free throw shooting sticks out so much, because both Perkins and Kris otherwise had very strong games tonight. Perkins posted his first career double-double, with 17 points and 12 rebounds; he was especially good in the first half, slicing through the Illini defense and getting to the rim to score. He did an excellent job of attacking the glass as well, on both the offense and defensive end. His offensive boards kept possessions alive and got Iowa some good second-shot opportunities, while his frequent defensive boards often helped key transition offense. Despite the lousy free throw shooting, Kris Murray still finished with 13 points on 5/10 shooting, to go with 4 rebounds and a steal as well. Kris' outing was part of a productive day for Iowa's bench -- they outscored Illinois' bench 27-20 and in addition to Kris' 13 points, Iowa also got 7 points for Payton Sandfort on 3/3 shooting, as well as 5 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals from Joe Toussaint.
As for Keegan Murray... if this game was also a battle between him and Kofi Cockburn to determine Big Ten Player of the Year, both guys put up strong cases. Keegan finished with 22 points, albeit on a pretty inefficient 7/22 shooting performance (2/7 from deep), along with 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, and an assist. It's a testament to the incredible performances Keegan Murray has had this year that we can say that a 22-point, 11-rebound effort felt kind of ho hum, but again -- that's the bar he's set this year. Cockburn finished with 21 points on 9/17 shooting, as well as 14 rebounds (7 offensive), 3 blocks, and 2 assists. He was pretty monstrous in this game and a big part of the reason why Illinois was able to climb back into it after falling behind by a wide margin in the first half.
Losses are always frustrating and this one was especially so. One, because Iowa had a 15-point lead at one point and ended up blowing it. Two, because they had so many opportunities to make plays and win the game and failed to do, especially at the free throw line. But Iowa one narrow loss -- on the road, against Big Ten co-champion Illinois -- does not negate the strong form this team has been on over the last five weeks. Iowa just needs to flush this performance (especially at the free throw line) and get ready for the real action from "THIS IS MARCH" -- TOURNAMENT SZN. Iowa's still in good shape to make some noise in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments this month -- now to see what they can do with those opportunities.
