Illinois Vs. Iowa

Game two of the Big Ten season and the Iowa Hawkeyes come to town looking for their first win of the conference season. Illinois is coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Gonzaga in Chicago but are sitting at 1-0 in the Big Ten. The Illini have a pretty easy schedule to start with here, and the goal should be 4-0. One thing at a time though. The starting line-up will get a tweak tonight as Bill Cole and Jeff Jordan will replace D.J. Richardson and Demetri McCamey.

Stan Simpson looks unsure of himself on the court. I feel like he lacks that killer attitude.

Bubba, Stan, Richard, Tyler, and D.J. in the game now. I think this one is in the bag.

Iowa has given up in this one. Guys are dogging it back on defense and just standing there on offense. The Illini should be happy with this win. 57-34 with 4 left, and Weber should make it a goal to hold the Hawkeyes under 40.

Bill Cole just had a great block where the ball hit the Iowa player and went out of bounds.

11:45 left in the game, and the Illini lead this one 45-26.

Demetri McCamey just threw up a great oop to Dominique Keller. Right after that, Brandon Paul intercepted a pass by simply jumping higher than the defender expected him to be able to. The edge of athleticism is clearly on the Illini's side.

5 Minutes into the half and Illinois has only put up 2 points. We seem to have fallen asleep at the half which is what I feared after a big lead.

The pace to start the second half has favored Iowa. A quick burst of shooting has brought the score to 39-22 only 3 minutes into the half.

The first half comes to a close with Iowa trailing the Illini 37-15. The big story was Iowa's inability to get the ball into the paint and score. Points in the paint favor Weber's squad 12-2, and the Illini have double the number of rebounds. Iowa has no answer inside for Tisdale and Davis, causing them to pack the lane. The result so far has been plenty of open looks from three. Illinois is 5-8 behind the stripe. Let's see if the Illini put Iowa away for good here early or let them hang around at 12 to 18 points down.

Iowa hits double digits 16 minutes into the game... We have still not seen a two point basket from the Hawkeyes.

D.J. Richardson hits his fourth 3 pointer of the half off of a behind the back pass from McCamey. 29-7 Ilinois.

22-7 Illinois with 8 left in the first half. Iowa is shooting 15%.

John Lickliter just made a three pointer and air balled his next shot. The Orange Krush really let him have it.

D.J. Richardson has three 3 pointers in the first half. A good response after being benched.

There have been numerous clock malfunctions and scoring errors which have made this game seem slooow.

The score is now 17-3 Illinois, and Iowa calls a timeout. The energy level is great for the guys. I'm hoping it stays this way. Iowa just can't keep up with our guys if we continue to play this way. I think the Hawkeyes are playing hard, I just don't think that they are very good.

Coach Weber is getting on the guys about playing with 100% energy at all times.

Illinois has five rebounds after 4 minutes, and four of them have been offensive.

The shots aren't falling early, but the offensive rebounding has been great.