Preview: Iowa-Illinois Men's Basketball

Hawkeyes Wrap Up Regular Season Sunday in Champaign

Iowa's Kris Murray drives against Illinois' Jacob Grandison during a game on Dec. 6, 2021 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

Iowa’s men’s basketball season has been built for this time.

The 24th-ranked Hawkeyes have won five consecutive games heading into Sunday’s game at No. 20 Illinois. And it’s a winning streak with one impressive fact — all of the wins have been by double digits.

The struggles of January are long forgotten — the Hawkeyes are 8-1 since February 1.

It’s a group effort.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was asked after Thursday’s 82-71 win over Michigan if this was the deepest team he’s had while coaching the Hawkeyes, and he didn’t let the question linger.

“By far the deepest, most productive,” McCaffery said.

This current run has come with nearly the same starting lineup — guards Jordan Bohannon and Tony Perkins, forwards Patrick McCaffery (Connor McCaffery substituted for him in Monday’s win over Northwestern), Filip Rebraca and Keegan Murray — but who is in at the end of the game has varied, according to matchups and who is playing well.

“Everybody’s got to be ready,” McCaffery said. “Whoever you put in has got to be ready to produce. If they’re not scoring, can they affect the game positively in other ways? That’s the team we have. We have a lot of guys doing that, and they’re really, really supportive of each other.”

Murray, at 22.8 points per game in Big Ten play, is the star. But Bohannon, Kris Murray, and Patrick McCaffery are averaging 10 points or more. Perkins is averaging 11 points over the last four games.

“I think we’re playing really well,” Fran McCaffery said. “I think we’re playing hard. We’re getting good play from a lot of different people. The one thing we’ll always do is move and share the ball.”

And then he added a deeper explanation.

“I don’t think it’s really complicated,” McCaffery said. “You’ve got to compete defensively, you’ve got to compete on the glass. You’ve got to take care of the ball. You’ve got to move the ball, share the ball.”

The current surge has the Hawkeyes (21-9 overall, 11-8 Big Ten) in a perfect spot. They have a chance to clinch a double-bye in next week’s Big Ten tournament, and they’ve solidified their NCAA tournament resumé.

There are 128 different seeding scenarios for the Big Ten tournament heading into the final weekend, and a majority favor the Hawkeyes, win or lose on Sunday.

But it’s simple — win, and they don’t have to go to Indianapolis so early.

Illinois (21-8, 14-5) has won the last four matchups against the Hawkeyes. The Illini are just 4-3 over their last seven games this season, a roller coaster of good wins and some stumbles.

Kofi Cockburn is the biggest matchup problem for the Hawkeyes — the 7-foot center averages 21 points and 10.5 rebounds.

It’s a rivalry that has gotten salty in the last couple of years, and with so much on the line Sunday night, this figures to have its own energy.

The Hawkeyes, though, have a different confidence these days. The stumbles of December, the ups and downs of January, have been forgotten.

They were built for what they’ve done. And what’s coming.