Illinois Upsets No. 20 Iowa, 68-66
By Jeff Mayfield

[March 11, 2016]  Indianapolis, IN-The Illinois Fighting Illini dialed-up an intensive, fierce, grind-it-out style that led to a 68-66 upset over the 20th ranked Hawkeyes. Part of the recipe for success was a good start as the Illini got off to a quick 11-4 start, but let the Hawks back in the game leading only 37-35 at halftime. It was feared that maybe Illinois had wasted a hot-shooting 52% from the field in the first half.

Jalen Coleman-Lands continued his inspired play by leading the Illini in scoring with 17 points. By knocking down 5 3-pointers Coleman-Lands broke the freshman record for most 3-pointers in a season that was held by Cory Bradford as he now has 87 triples. Kendrick Nunn had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Maverick Morgan was able to score 14 points to go along with 7 rebounds. Morgan scored ten of those points early in the first half by taking the ball right at Adam Woodbury and the rest of the Iowa front line.

The fact that Illinois was bale to get Kendrick Nunn going and into the flow and rhythm of his offensive game turned out to be huge later on. And what can you say about the electrifying freshman-Jalen Coleman-Lands. It wasn’t just his scoring but he hit 2 or 3 of his big shots right after Iowa had scored on the other end to close the gap. Talk about ice water in his veins!

As an impartial observer, I have to tell you that I didn’t see this coming. It was great to see so much effort, so much intensity, and so much grit, that the Illini were actually fun to watch the last couple of days-win or lose. You can really get behind a team that empties themselves on the court, that is so unselfish, and is the epitome of team basketball.

This victory sets up a showdown with the 4th-seeded Purdue Boilermakers tomorrow 2:30 pm eastern-1:30pm Lincoln time.

[By JEFF MAYFIELD]

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