No. 12 Illinois 95, Iowa 85: Second Half Slip

CHAMPAIGN -- Iowa fell to No. 12 Illinois in a tightly called game on Saturday, as the Illini pulled away late for the 95-85 victory.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

Following Tuesday's 78-71 win over Michigan State, we heard from Fran McCaffery about his team's ability to rebound and get stops, particularly from fifth-year senior Ben Krikke, who totaled 14 boards on the night.

The Valparaiso transfer finished with just five rebounds against Illinois.

"I thought he was great," McCaffery said after the MSU game. "He had 15 points and shot 7-9. He was in there banging with the big guys."

Today, Tony Perkins tied with Owen Freeman for the team lead in rebounds with eight. Payton Sandfort was third with seven. That simply won't cut it against a team the caliber of Illinois, who out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 38-32. Each player who saw the floor grabbed at least two boards for the Illini, whereas three Iowa players finished the game without a single rebound.

Though Josh Dix was terrific shooting the ball and led the Hawkeyes with 20 points, he didn't grab a rebound over 36 minutes.

"We've got to continue to be a little tougher," Sandfort said. "I think that's where we can make the biggest stride, and we've already made some strides."

"I would say it's more mental. We get that lead late, and we've got to extend it. We did a good job of that against Michigan State -- holding on when they were making their runs. Obviously tonight, they made some big time plays."

Throw in a player like Coleman Hawkins who matches up well against the Hawkeyes, and it only makes things more difficult defensively. He finished with 30 points, shooting 9-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from deep.

"He's a really good player," McCaffery said. "He's got a handle, NBA three-point range, and he can go inside. Coming down the stretch, we were in some foul trouble, and that makes him even harder to guard."

"He played really well," Sandfort added. "He made a bunch of tough shots, and sometimes we just made it too easy on him. I think we let him get going a little bit too much early. Once a guy is rolling, you never know what's going to happen."

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Patrick McCaffery has had his struggles this season -- when he plays well, the Hawkeyes usually stand a fighting chance.

On Saturday, he played 21 minutes, finishing with four points and one rebound. His final plus-minus rating was -21.

Since the illness and ankle injury McCaffery dealt with early in Big Ten play, Dix has stepped up and filled what was McCaffery's position in the starting lineup. Though he's no longer starting, it's unclear as to whether or not the senior should be playing as many minutes as he did this afternoon.

And maybe it doesn't have to be a reflection of McCaffery. Maybe it's the fact that the guys on the bench contribute in different ways that can help this team. Particularly the trio of freshmen coming off the bench -- Brock Harding, Pryce Sandfort and Ladji Dembele all played seven or fewer minutes against the Illini.

Though Harding has his defensive deficiencies and Sandfort is continuing to grow at the wing, Dembele has shown that he can consistently help on the defensive side of the ball, and on the glass.

Owen Freeman has also had his issues with foul trouble this season and getting more consistent, less sporadic minutes from Dembele will help him get into the flow of the game. He would have an opportunity to contribute more consistently on the offensive end as well.

Fran McCaffery said it himself postgame after the 6'8" freshman put up six points in just six minutes this afternoon.

"I should've played him more," he said. "He deserved to play more. That's on me."

The difference for the Hawkeyes in their two upset wins over Wisconsin and MSU was how they responded to late runs -- and how they protected their second-half leads.

With 12:15 left in the game, Iowa held a seven-point advantage over the Illini. Then Illinois went on a 10-2 run over the ensuing two and a half minutes. With 7:51 left in the game, the home team took their final lead of the contest, extending it to ten by the end of the game.

"We had a couple opportunities to score, and we didn't," McCaffery said. "It would've been nice if we did in that situation. We got a couple stops."

It wasn't entirely on the play of the Hawkeyes, either. A total of 26 fouls were called and 42 free throws were attempted in the second half.

"Through that 12-4 stretch, I don't know if they shot a field goal or made a field goal," Sandfort said. "It seemed like all they did was shoot free throws. We've got to do a better job of not fouling. That might not be on us, but we've got find a way to guard without fouling."

"We had a lot of chances where we could've extended the lead, but we just missed some easy bunnies, didn't get rebounds. There were just simple plays that we need to make, and that's kind of been a common theme."

Dix saw the repeated stoppage of the game as something that got the Hawks off their spot, too.

"Especially with how physical they were playing on defense, we felt like we were getting lighter calls," Dix said. "We weren't able to be as physical as they were. We just had to defend without fouling, and we weren't able to do that."

Without putting it as plainly as Dix did, Sandfort pointed out what he saw as the biggest difference between the Michigan State win and the Illinois loss.

"I can't answer why [the two games finished differently]," Sandfort said. "I don't want to get in trouble."

Up next, the Hawkeyes will take on Penn State (14-14, 8-9 Big Ten) at home on Tuesday, February 27 at 8 PM CT. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network. The last time the two matched up, the Nittany Lions picked up an 89-79 win over the Hawkeyes in State College.