The Hawkeyes had plenty of chances to keep the game close late against Illinois, but the ball just wouldn’t find the bottom of the net. As a result, Iowa dropped just their second home conference game of the season 70-66.

With less than one minute to play in the game, Brady Ellingson and Nicholas Baer each had open shots from the three-point line. Baer’s with 18 seconds left would have tied the game.

“I thought we had a couple of good looks at the end that didn’t go in,” said Iowa senior Peter Jok, “but that’s the game of basketball.”

At the end of the game, Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery was happy with the shots his team put up, but it was the inability to convert off of Illini turnovers that had he and his players frustrated.

The Hawkeyes forced 17 Illini turnovers throughout the game, but they only came away with 12 points on the possessions that followed.

“I think we quick-shotted a couple of times,” said McCaffery. “We maybe should have moved the ball a little better.”

In a game of runs, neither team led by more than eight points. When the Illini went of a 6-0 run, the Hawkeyes would answer with an 7-0 run of their own, and vice versa. That was the flow of the game for nearly the whole 40 minutes.

One such run started with 10 minutes remaining in the game when the Hawkeyes went on an 8-0 to take the lead 54-50. Tyler Cook picked up his fourth foul of the game with 7:16 remaining, and that prompted a 10-2 Illini run as they regained the lead.

After the teams traded a pair of buckets, the Illini took a lead with just under three minutes to play and never relinquished it again.

Cook’s absence after his fourth foul sent him to the bench changed the momentum of the game in favor of the Illini. The Illini was no match for Cook throughout most of the game as Cook emerged as a “safety valve” of sorts for the Hawkeyes. The freshman was 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line in the game, but he did not attempt another shot after he earned his fourth foul.

Cook finished the game with 14 points, which would had led the team had Peter Jok not hit a three-pointer with just over one second remaining in the game. Having to sit out a lot as the game neared its close was not easy for the freshman to do after having a good shooting day.

“It’s tough. I felt like I was getting the shots I wanted to get,” Cook said. “I was obviously trying to get the ball more down the stretch, but when you’re out you just have to encourage the rest of the guys.”

Aside from Cook, no one else for the Hawkeyes was ever able to get into a consistent scoring rhythm. The team shot just 38.9% from the field and 33.3% from three. Jordan Bohannon was 3-for-4 from behind the arc, whereas the rest of the team was just 4-for-17.

Sometimes the shots just don’t fall, but the team isn’t going to let this game effect the rest of their season. Even while the team is in the midst of three-game losing streak, McCaffery is optimistic that the difficulties of the last few games will be good for the team.

“Sometimes you’ve got to go through it and experience it, the good and the bad.”

Iowa plays next on Tuesday at home against Indiana at 8 P.M. CST on ESPN.

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After struggling to hit threes in the first half, Illinois was given some open looks in the second half that contributed to their nine made three point shots on the day. Malcom Hill led all scorers for Illinois with 21.

The Hawkeyes were left in a scoring drought late in the second half as Illinois went on an 8-0 run to put the game nearly out of reach for Iowa. It was only by two made free throws by Peter Jok that kept Iowa scoring.

After a steal by Nicholas Baer that led to a dunk at the other end, the Hawkeyes looked to have run out of energy. Baer scored 8 points, shooting 2-7 from three-point range.

“[Baer] goes until exhaustion,” Coach Fran McCaffery said. “We need him on the floor late in those games, but he was done.”

Iowa played in the full court press for the majority of game, forcing 17 turnovers including the steal by Baer and another by freshman Cordell Pemsl.

“Obviously when you’re pressing the whole game you’re going to get tired,” Baer said. “That’s no excuse not to execute, they were tired too and executed better down the stretch.”

Illinois scored 32 points in the paint, many of which came by an opening left in the full court press defense by Iowa. The press did allow for a spark inside Carver, after the two big steals the crowd regained some of its energy.

“Anytime you press you are going to be susceptible to things down the floor, but overall I think the press was effective,” Baer said.

Iowa was led by senior Peter Jok with 16 points and 10 rebounds, marking his fourth double-double of the season.

Jok took a lot of the blame for the loss to Illinois, he shot four points below his season average of over 20 points per game.

The game was dominated by one team making quick scoring runs. Both team had 8-0 runs late in the game. Momentum shifts throughout the game characterized how both Illinois and Iowa played.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Jok said. “We thought Cordell got fouled and would shoot free throws but that was overturned, that was where the momentum shifted.”

Illinois closed out the game on the line but gave Iowa a glimmer of hope with four missed free throws in the final minute. They only show 7-14 from the free throw line, none of which came in the first half.

Iowa on the other hand shot 17-22 from the line. Peter Jok missed a free throw for the second in a row after making 28 straight shots from the line.

Ten players played for more than ten minutes during the game, only freshman Ryan Kriener played less. The deep rotation is attributed to the young roster Iowa has, sometimes that youth can lead to mistakes.

“Could somebody have recovered and covered up for a mistake?” McCaffery said. “That’s the journey and that’s where you have to get to when you’re a young team.”

Iowa will play next against Indiana at home on Tuesday. That game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. CT.

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