Ahead of facing No. 16 Illinois, No. 19 Iowa men’s basketball must adjust to a new challenge

IOWA CITY — An all-important, three-game stretch awaits No. 19 Iowa men’s basketball beginning Sunday.

The Hawkeyes face one of their toughest stretches in their schedule starting Jan. 11, facing three of the conference’s top programs. The first game begins with another installment of the Iowa-Illinois rivalry — the only time the two teams face off this season.

Sunday’s game against the Fighting Illini is anticipated to be another full crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with over 12,500 tickets purchased as of Friday, according to an Iowa spokesperson.

“It’s exciting,” Iowa head coach Ben McCollum said. “This is part of the build, and we want people to be part of it, like we said. We've also said that there are going to be ups and downs to what we do. I think people can also see that it's trending the right direction, whether it goes up and down on the way up, there are going to be some dips and some serious rises.”

From there, Iowa has two road games against Purdue and Indiana waiting in the wings.

“We just have to stick together,” guard Bennett Stirtz said following Iowa’s loss to Minnesota on Tuesday. “We know it’s a long season, and we have to stay positive through it all and get ready to go, one game at a time.”

In an early season of ebbs and flows and learning how to work through a different league of basketball, there’s two things the Hawkeyes have been working through — managing their smaller overall height and learning how to get other players beyond Stirtz involed in the game.

Well, Illinois is the tallest team in Division I basketball, with nearly every player standing above 6-foot-4. Illinois also has two players above the seven-foot threshold, including Arkansas transfer Zvonimir Ivisic.

“They're huge, they're skilled, and they can shoot,” McCollum said. “They can do a variety of things offensively, and then defensively, they've really improved throughout the year. They don't have a lot of holes. They have a lot of size, so for us, we just need to do us, compete and fight, and see what happens.”

Their ability to shoot well isn’t just common pleasantries, either. Illinois is No. 3 in the country for adjusted offensive efficiency.

Illinois also out-rebounds its opponents by 11.5 boards per game, a lot of which is thanks to that significant height difference.

“They're able to punish you in a variety of ways with mismatches because of their size, so they'll punish you inside or outside,” McCollum said. “They'll offensive rebound at an elite level, so they do a lot of things very, very well. You have to be able to keep up with them from a scoring perspective.”

The Hawkeyes have watched Stirtz record at least 20 points in the last three-straight games, including a 21-point second half against Minnesota. But with a team like Illinois, McCollum said a large part of their adjustments mean players beyond Stirtz have to score consistently, too.

The learning curve is evolving, but it’s evolving to what McCollum is looking toward. He knows there’s untapped potential still inside Iowa. Facing Illinois could be another step in unlocking what’s yet to be seen.

It’s a matter if he can do so with the Hawkeye fans watching, too.

“That's helping us build this thing the right way,” McCollum said. “I think that they can see that we have great kids and we're doing things the right way. We certainly appreciate it and will continue to appreciate it throughout the season."

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