No. 24 Illinois aims to continue ascent vs. Iowa

Illinois' up-and-down season is pointing in the right direction ahead of its opening game in the Big Ten Tournament against 15th-seeded Iowa on Thursday evening in Indianapolis.

Less than three weeks ago, the seventh-seeded Fighting Illini (20-11) were a flu-wracked, defenseless mess. They were coming off a 43-point loss to then-third-ranked Duke in Madison Square Garden, a loss that not only was the most lopsided in program history but also had Illinois coach Brad Underwood questioning his team's toughness.

Now? Well, after three straight wins, including Friday night's 88-80 triumph over then-No. 18 Purdue, Underwood is singing a different tune about his team as it enters second-round play in the Big Ten tournament.

"It grew a lot tonight," he said after the victory over the Boilermakers. "Just simply the confidence to win a close game when things are really, really hard against an unbelievably good opponent and a team that has the best offense in the league.

"To get stops when you need them, to find enough moxie when you're down four or five and to make plays, man, my confidence is really high."

That's why Illinois re-entered the rankings this week at No. 24, which doesn't compare to the top-15 ranking it boasted in mid-January but is a reminder that its best can stack up with most teams. The Illini are averaging 87.3 points in their three straight victories, ringing up 93 in a 20-point blowout win last week at then-No. 15 Michigan.

Five players average in double figures in scoring for Illinois, led by freshman Kasparas Jakucionis (15.2 ppg, 4.8 assists). His late 3-pointer put the Illini ahead to stay against Purdue. Another freshman, Will Riley (12.2 ppg), was named the league's Sixth Man of the Year.

While the Illini eye a long NCAA Tournament run, Iowa (17-15) is in win-or-else mode in terms of its NCAA hopes.

After sneaking into the conference tourney via a Sunday win at Nebraska, the Hawkeyes sent Ohio State packing Wednesday night with a 77-70 victory in the first round.

Four players reached double figures for Iowa, led by Payton Sandfort's 17 points and Josh Dix's 16. Brock Harding came off the bench for 15, including a crucial 3-pointer with 16 seconds left that gave the team a 75-70 lead.

Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery said he might play more bigs in his lineup to contend with Illinois' size. When the Illini stopped Iowa 81-61 on Feb. 25 in Champaign, they went to 7-foot-1 Tomislav Ivisic early and often for 15 of his game-high 22 points in the first half.

That helped Illinois shoot 50.8 percent from the field for the game, including a staggering 23 of 34 on 2-pointers.

"They're really big," McCaffery said. "We're going to have to really shore up (the inside Thursday) or stay out of foul trouble if we can. Not only do they have those guys, but they've got drivers and shooters. It's really one of the more talented teams through the course of the year."

With Owen Freeman (finger surgery) out for the rest of the season, Sandfort is the team's top scorer at 16.3 ppg, followed by Dix at 14.1.

--Field Level Media