Saturday afternoon was the perfect example of a moral victory type of game for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Sitting in eighth place in the Big Ten following two huge wins against No. 21 Wisconsin and Michigan State, the 16-11 Hawkeyes found themselves in another close battle with No. 12 Illinois on the road.
At times we’ve seen the Hawkeyes start sluggish, taking the first half to really catch up to speed and start putting pressure on their opponents. This time it was different. In a massive game for their NCAA Tournament hopes, the Hawkeyes entered Champaign, Ill., swinging. They stood toe-to-toe with the Fighting Illini, despite being the underdog, unwilling to go away even as Illinois was backed by their home crowd.
While they were able to stay in the fight for the majority of the game, performing well on offense to keep up, the Hawkeyes unfortunately didn’t have enough gas in the tank to win this one. In crunch time they sputtered as they ran out of gas, while Illinois kept a level head and got the job done. The Illini would win 95-85 over Iowa.
It certainly wasn’t a bad performance by the Hawkeyes on the road at all. Against a really good Illinois team, they did some things well and fought hard. Unfortunately, at this stage of the season, moral victories don’t do much for the tournament selection committee. It’s a disappointing one to drop, and fans felt that disappointment too, reacting to the loss on social media.