By Adam Hensley
Iowa will try to reach .500 in Big Ten play today when it travels to Champaign, Illinois, for an 8:06 p.m. contest against the Illini.
The Hawkeyes, who have been burned by consecutive slow starts, enter this game following five days without competition.
From the looks of their 84-76 loss at home against Maryland, a longer period of rest sure couldn’t hurt. In the losses to Northwestern and Maryland, Iowa struggled to hit shots early and fell into a hole.
“I didn’t think our effort in the beginning of the game matched [Maryland’s] ability to move the ball and execute their offense,” head coach Fran McCaffery said.
McCaffery noted in a teleconference that he might adjust the starting lineup in an effort to avoid a third-straight sluggish start.
Jordan Bohannon, Peter Jok, Isaiah Moss, Tyler Cook, and Cordell Pemsl have started the past six games; the Hawkeyes have gone 3-3.
Most recently, against Maryland on Jan. 19, the Hawkeyes struggled to find their rhythm with their starting rotation.
Not even five minutes into the game, McCaffery pulled Pemsl and inserted Ryan Kriener, who had an impressive game against Northwestern but wandered into foul trouble against the Terrapins.
Even Jok sat the bench early on. However, he has battled injuries pretty much the entire season.
McCaffery noted during a teleconference that Jok has shown improvement and focused on his treatment. Iowa will need him at full health in order to move up in the conference standings.
Against the Terrapins, it wasn’t a starter who sparked Iowa’s run.
Ahmad Wagner, who started earlier this season while Cook recovered from a broken finger, led the charge and helped to push Iowa ahead late in the game.
McCaffery tabbed Wagner “the difference in the game.”
“He kept us in it that second half, even the whole game,” fellow big man Pemsl said. “He kind of took over there for a little bit and put us on his back.”
Wagner’s 12 points tied his career-high. Most of those came at the line, where he made six of eight attempts.
The sophomore said he didn’t want his inconsistent free-throw shooting to plague him throughout the season, so he’s made a point to work on his shots from the stripe in practice.
Wagner also added 6 rebounds — 5 on the offensive glass — and dished out 2 assists.
“I was trying to just bring energy to the team,” Wagner said. “We were sluggish at the beginning.”
Illinois heads into tonight’s matchup on the heels of a three-game losing streak. The Illini are led by Malcolm Hill, who scores 17.8 points per game. However, during the three-game losing streak, he’s averaged only 13 points and only hit one of 11 3-point shots.
Aside from Hill, Illinois has a pretty balanced scoring effort. Five other players average 7 or more points per game.
As a result, the Illini rank fifth in the Big Ten in scoring (75.9).
The matchup has the makings of a high-scoring affair. Illinois and Iowa rank 13th and 14th in the Big Ten in scoring defense.
The last time Iowa and Illinois faced off was in last season’s Big Ten Tournament. The Illini won, 68-66, in a disappointing, early tournament exit for the Hawkeyes.
