WHO: Illinois Fightin' Illini (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten)
WHEN: 1:37 PM CT
WHERE: Caver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, IA)
TV: FOX (Jason Benetti and Stephen Bardo)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin and Bobby Hansen) | XM 380 or SXM 970
MOBILE: www.foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: www.foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaHoops | @IowaonBTN
LINE: Iowa -3
KENPOM: Iowa -2 (58% chance of winning)

Iowa
G Tony Perkins (10.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.4 bpg, 39.7 FG%, 30.2 3FG%)
G Ahron Ulis (6.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.2 bpg, 40.9 FG%, 32.7 3FG%)
F Connor McCaffery (7.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.0 bpg, 44.1 FG%, 38.0 3FG%)
F Kris Murray (20.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.8 spg, 1.3 bpg, 50.4 FG%, 35.0 3FG%)
F Filip Rebraca (14.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.5 spg, 1.4 bpg, 57.3 FG%, 40.0 3FG%)

Illinois
G Jayden Epps (9.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.3 bpg, 43.1 FG%, 34.1 3FG%)
G Terrence Shannon (17.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.4 bpg, 42.1 FG%, 36.7 3FG%)
G Matthew Mayer (11.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.2 bpg, 37.6 FG%, 33.0 3FG%)
F Coleman Hawkins (9.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.2 bpg, 43.9 FG%, 29.5 3FG%)
C Dain Dainja (9.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.6 spg, 1.4 bpg, 68.7% FG, 0.0%)

Saturday is the Black & Gold Spirit Game, with Iowa looking to stripe Carver-Hawkeye Arena in in black and gold. Check the graphic above to see whether you should wear a gold shirt or a black shirt, depending on which section you're in.

Outside of Purdue (winners of nine straight Big Ten games), there's no team in the Big Ten hotter than Illinois. The Illini have won seven of their last games, with the only hiccup in that stretch being a loss to Indiana. They haven't been riding a wave of good fortune or getting a lot of lucky bounces in those wins, either; all seven wins have been by at least nine points and their average margin of victory in those wins has been almost 13 ppg. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing for the Illini this season -- they started out 0-3 in Big Ten play (losing to Maryland, Penn State, and Northwestern) and three of their four league losses have been by double digits (including a pair of 15-point home losses to Indiana and Penn State). Still, most of that sketchy play came back in December; since the calendar flipped to 2023, Illinois has gone 7-2.

If it took this Illinois team a few months to find itself, that shouldn't be surprising -- this is almost a completely new Illini team from the squad that went 23-10 last year and shared the regular season Big Ten championship. That team lost four key senior contributors and saw Kofi Cockburn depart for the NBA Draft and Andre Curbelo enter for the transfer portal. The only returning player who played a notable amount of minutes last season was Coleman Hawkins (around 20 per game), an athletic big who has become a fixture in the post for the Illini while averaging 9.4 ppg and a team-high 6.4 rpg this season.

Around Hawkins, the Illinois has added players through traditional recruiting and the transfer portal. The Illini's biggest recruit was 4* point guard Jayden Epps, who has emerged as a starter for Illinois over their last three games. Epps is still finding his way a bit, especially as a passer, but his quickness and strength has provided a welcome boost for Illinois, particularly on the defensive end. Illinois turned to the transfer portal to fill out the rest of their starting lineup; current leading scorer Terrence Shannon moved to Illinois after three years at Texas Tech, while Matthew Mayer and Dain Dainja were both plucked from Baylor.

Illinois has gone 8-2 since inserting Dainja into the starting lineup 10 games ago; he's proved to be an absolute defensive menace around the rim, blocking two or more shots in six of those 10 games as a starter. He's also a solid rebounder and a strong finisher around the rim (68.7 FG%). Mayer gives Illinois more length and size in the post (Mayer, Dainja, and Hawkins are all listed at 6-9 or taller), but he's also Illinois' most accurate sharpshooter, going 44/120 (36.7%) from long range this season. Iowa needs to be sure to not let him get hot. Shannon is a volume scorer (almost 12 shots per game) who's shooting 42% from the floor this season, though he's complemented that by getting to the free throw line often (141 attempts, 6.4 tries per game) and converting almost 80% of those shots. Keeping him off the free throw line would be a good idea.

The strength of this Illinois team is its defense; the Illini rank 15th nationally in defensive efficiency. Illinois' best attribute on defense is contesting shots, especially near the rim. Opponents have an effective field percentage of just 44.8% against Illinois (13th best nationally) and Illinois is holding opponents to just 43.2% on 2-point tries. That's in large part thanks to a block rate of 14.8%, which ranks 10th nationally. Kris Murray and Filip Rebraca have excelled down low this year, but they might find it harder to operate in this game.

On offense, Illinois is a solid shooting team (52.2 eFG%, 94th nationally) but an excellent 2-point shooting team (55.6% on 2-point tries, 21st nationally) and a very good offensive rebounding team, with an offensive rebound rate of 33.3% (50th nationally). So they make a lot of their shots around the rim and when they miss them, they often grab the offensive rebound. Illinois is poor from behind the 3-point line (31.7%, 286th) and at the free throw line (66.7%, 313rd), so if Iowa can force them to try and score points from those areas, it might just work in Iowa's favor on defense.

Keep The Points Flowing. Illinois is 2-6 this season when giving up 70 or more points. The Illini rank sixth in the Big Ten in scoring defense and have held opponents to 63.3 ppg this year. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in scoring at 81.5 ppg and has scored at least 75 points in every home game this season. They've been even better recently, topping 80 points in their last six home games. And they've been doing it against some of the Big Ten's stingiest defenses too: Rutgers, Northwestern, and Maryland all rank in the Top 5 in scoring defense in the Big Ten, but the Hawkeyes were able to torch each of them for at least 80 points. If this game becomes a physical, low-scoring slog, it massively favors Illinois. If Iowa can keep the tempo high and continue making shots at the same red-hot clip we've seen in recent weeks, they ought to have an excellent opportunity to win.

Deep Threats. If Illinois is able to clutter up the paint and make it hard for Murray and Rebraca to score around the rim, then Iowa's going to need its outside shooters to be locked in for this game. Payton Sandfort went 5/7 in Iowa's win over Northwestern; a similar shooting display would be a huge boost for the Hawkeyes in this game. If a few other Hawkeyes want to make 2-3 triples in this game, then that would go a long way toward boosting Iowa's potential for a win.

For The Kids. A mini-scandal/social media flare-up happened this week involving group tickets to this game and the Orange Krush, the Illinois student section. The Orange Krush claimed that they had purchased group tickets to this game months ago, only to have those tickets voided this week when Iowa discovered that the tickets had been purchased by Illinois fans. Except, as Iowa explained, the tickets were voided because when the Orange Krush purchased the tickets at a discounted group rate, they had claimed to be representing a Boys & Girls Club in Illinois. When that claim was revealed to be a lie -- the Boys & Girls Club they claimed to be representing had no knowledge of the tickets allegedly purchased in their name -- then the tickets were voided. And, indeed, Iowa went one step further by donating those tickets to the Boys & Girls Club in Cedar Rapids, so kids from that organization can attend the game. End result: the Orange Krush got caught in a con and look very stupid, while some very deserving kids will now get to go to the Iowa-Illinois game. Good for them, and hopefully they're able to see an Iowa win, too.