MBB Preview \\ vs. Illinois \\ Big Ten Tournament

OPPONENT	Iowa (17-15) vs. Illinois (20-11)
LOCATION	Indianapolis
DATE	Thursday, March 12
TIP-OFF	Approximately 5:30 p.m. (CT)
RADIO	Hawkeye Radio Network
TV	BTN

 

The 15th-seeded University of Iowa men’s basketball team will face No. 7 seed Illinois in the second round of the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. (CT) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.  The game will be televised on BTN.

FOLLOW LIVE
Radio: Thursday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call.  The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.  The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
TV: Thursday’s game will be televised on BTN with Kevin Kugler (play-by-play), Robbie Hummel (color) and Andy Katz (sideline) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• The 15th-seeded Hawkeyes opened Big Ten Tournament play with a 77-70 win over No. 10 seed Ohio State on Wednesday in the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Tournament.  The win snapped a two-game tournament losing streak to the Buckeyes.
• Iowa has won five consecutive games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse dating back to 2022 season.  The Hawkeyes have 13 wins all-time at Gainbridge.
• The Hawkeye bench had a 27-3 advantage over the Buckeye reserves in Wednesday’s game.  Iowa’s reserves have scored 61 points over their last two games.
• Iowa will attempt to win two games in a Big Ten Tournament for just the second time since 2007.  The Hawkeyes won four games in four days to win the title in 2022 in Indianapolis.
• In its last two games, Iowa has posted back-to-back Quad 1 victories. The team is limiting opponents to 69 points on .385/.224 shooting from the field. 
• Honorable mention All-Big Ten selection Payton Sandfort surpassed 1,500 career points against Washington on Feb. 22 and is currently 12th in career scoring (1,589) and second in career 3-pointers (263). He is the second Hawkeye all-time with 1,500+ points, 500+ rebounds and 250+ 3-pointers.
• In the 11 games without injured forward Owen Freeman, Payton Sandfort (16.9) and Dix (15.9) are combining to average 32.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. 
• Sophomore Pryce Sandfort is Iowa’s third-leading scorer during the stretch, averaging 10 points per contest.  He has eight 3-pointers over his last three games.  Sandfort posted his first career double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in the road win at Nebraska on March 9.
• Iowa is second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally, averaging 82.1 points per game.  The Hawkeyes have the second-best field goal (.487) and effective field goal percentage (.565) in the league.  The team has averaged 80+ points in five consecutive seasons -- the longest stretch in program history.
• Sandfort has scored 20+ nine times in the last 18 games, giving him a team-best 13 20+ point games this season.  The Hawkeyes are 9-4 this season when Sandfort goes for 20+ points.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in 27 games, including 10+ in 15 contests -- the most in a season since 2020-21 (19). Iowa is second in the Big Ten (32nd nationally), averaging 9.7 per game.  Iowa is 12-3 when making 10+ 3s.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS
• The Illini closed out the regular season on a three-game winning streak with victories over Iowa (81-61), at Michigan (93-73) and vs. Purdue (88-80).  Illinois is 20-11 overall and finished with a 12-8 Big Ten record.
• Illinois has five players averaging in double figures on the year. Third-team All-Big Ten and All-Freshman team selection Kasparas Jakucionis is leading the team in scoring (15.2) and assists (4.8).  He also averages 5.6 rebounds and has made 49 3-point field goals, while shooting 83.2 percent from the line (119-of-143).
• Tomislav Ivisic averages 12.6 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds and he has a team-high nine double-doubles. Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Will Riley averages 12.2 points with 41 3s, and Tre White averages 10.4 points.  
• Ben Humrichous leads the team with 60 3-point field goals.  He is one of four Illini players with 40 or more 3s.  The Illini are third in the Big Ten, averaging 9.4 3s per game and first in 3-point attempts (30.3).
• Illinois is the top scoring team in the Big Ten, averaging 83.7 points.  The team is also No. 1 in the league and second nationally in rebounding (42.42 per game), which includes a conference-high 12.94 offensive boards.
• Illinois’ reserves average 25.77 points, which is third-most in the league.

FIRST MEETING: ILLINOIS 81, IOWA 61

Illinois held the Hawkeyes to a season-low 61 points in an 81-61 victory on Feb. 25 in Champaign. The Illini led 37-30 at half and outscored Iowa, 44-31, over the final 20 minutes.
• Brock Harding led a pair of Hawkeyes in double figures, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. It was his third-highest output of the season.
• Illinois forced Iowa into committing 16 turnovers, tying a season high.

LAST GAME: IOWA 77, OHIO STATE 70

The Hawkeyes shot 54.7 percent and had four players reach double figures in a 77-70 win over 10th-seeded Ohio State in the first round of the 2025 Big Ten Tournament.
• Iowa’s reserves accounted for 27 points in the game, including 15 from Brock Harding and 10 from Pryce Sandfort.
• Payton Sandfort finished with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, while Josh Dix added 16 on 7-of-13 shooting. 
• Iowa made 10 3-pointers in the game en route to its first winning streak since early January.

IOWA IN THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT

• Iowa has posted an 23-23 record in Big Ten Tournament games. The Hawkeyes earned tournament titles in 2001, 2006, and 2022 and lost in the title game in 2002. Only Michigan State (35), Ohio State (34), Illinois (34), Wisconsin (29) and Michigan (24) have more wins and a higher winning percentage. Michigan State has won six tournament titles, Ohio State and Illinois have won four, Iowa and Wisconsin have won three, while Michigan and Purdue have two tournament titles. (Ohio State was forced to vacate its 2002 title.)
• Iowa has played 11 different teams in the event, having met each team except Nebraska, Maryland, USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington at least once. Iowa (2001 as a No. 6 seed; 2022 as a No. 5 seed) and Michigan (2017 as a No. 8 seed; 2018 as a No. 5 seed) are the only teams to claim the tournament title by winning four games in four days.
• Iowa has been eliminated by the tournament champion six times, including Michigan in the 1998 quarterfinals and 2018 first round, Michigan State in the 2000 quarterfinals and 2012 quarterfinals, Ohio State in the 2002 title game, and Illinois in the 2021 semifinals.

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE

Four current Hawkeyes were members of the 2022 team that won four games in four days as the No. 5 seed to win the 2022 Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
• Payton Sandfort scored in double figures in two of the four games as a reserve, making six 3-point field goals.  Riley Mulvey (two games), Luc Laketa (one) and Carter Kingsbury were also members of the team.
• Drew Thelwell helped Morehead State win two OVC Tournament titles, winning in 2021 and 2024.

TWO-GAME WINNING STREAK

• Iowa is averaging 80 points, while shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from 3-point range.  The team has made 21 3-pointers in the two games.
• The Hawkeye defense is allowing 69 points on a 38.5 field goal percentage, including a 22.4 mark from 3-point range (11-of-49).
• Four players are averaging in double figures -- Payton Sandfort (19.5), Josh Dix (15.5), Pryce Sandfort (13.5) and Brock Harding (13.0).  Iowa’s reserves have scored 61 points in the two victories.
• It is the first time Iowa has won back-to-back games since Jan. 7 & 11 in wins over Nebraska and Indiana.

MORE NOTABLES

• Head coach Fran McCaffery has the most victories in Iowa history with 297, including a record 143 Big Ten wins.  McCaffery won his 200th career game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 22 against Washington. 
• McCaffery has 548 career victories, making him one of 24 active head coaches with 500 career victories.
• Thursday’s game is Iowa’s sixth contest against a ranked opponent this season.  The Hawkeyes are winless in their first five chances.
• With his 22-point output at Nebraska, Payton Sandfort went over the 500 point mark for the season.  He is the first player since Luka Garza to have back-to-back 500-point seasons and the 12th player to have two such seasons in program history.
• The Hawkeyes limited Nebraska to 34.9 percent shooting -- a season low by an opponent -- on March 9.  The Huskers made just six 3-pointers in the loss.
• The Hawkeyes have played four games on neutral courts this season, posting a 3-1 record. 
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (18.3, 4th in NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84, 2nd in NCAA). The team has had 20+ assists in nine games.  The Hawkeyes have had fewer than 10 turnovers in six of their last 10 games.
• Iowa has shot better than 50 percent from the floor 13 times and better than 60 percent three times. The team is 11-2 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
• Iowa rallied from nine down in the second half to beat Washington on Feb. 22. It was the team’s sixth comeback victory of the season.
• The Hawkeyes have had multiple 20-point scorers in seven games this season.
• Redshirt junior Carter Kingsbury played a career-high 28 minutes in the win over Washington on Feb. 22.  
• Senior Payton Sandfort has started 66 consecutive games dating back to the start of his junior season.
• The Hawkeyes went 12-6 at home this season and the program has won 96 of its last 103 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• Iowa is second in the Big Ten and 43rd nationally, averaging 13.00 fast-break points. 
• The Hawkeye reserves have outscored their counterparts in 18 games.  Iowa got 57 points from its reserves in the 112 point outburst against New Hampshire on Dec. 30.  
• Iowa has held 22 opponents under 50 percent shooting (and four under 40 percent), has forced at least 18 turnovers in six games and has held eight opponents under 70 points.   The Hawkeyes are 98-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points over the past 14+ seasons.
• The Hawkeyes have had 11 games decided by single digits (5-6 record) and four games decided by a single possession (2-2 record).

PAYTON WATCH

Senior Payton Sandfort currently is 12th in program history with 1,589 career points, while ranking second in the record books with 263 career 3-point field goals.  He is No. 2 all-time to Jordan Bohannon (455).
• Sandfort is the 12th player in program history -- the first since Luka Garza -- to have two 500-point seasons.