No. 23 Iowa visits Bryant and Illinois

Updated Jan. 9, 2025 3:42 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Iowa Hawkeyes (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) at Illinois Fighting Illini (11-4, 1-3 Big Ten)

Champaign, Illinois; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Illinois hosts No. 23 Iowa after Genesis Bryant scored 20 points in Illinois' 68-61 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Fighting Illini are 9-1 in home games. Illinois is seventh in the Big Ten with 25.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Kendall Bostic averaging 8.8.

The Hawkeyes are 2-2 against Big Ten opponents. Iowa is 12-3 against opponents with a winning record.

Illinois' average of 4.9 made 3-pointers per game is 3.4 fewer made shots on average than the 8.3 per game Iowa allows. Iowa averages 6.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 more made shots on average than the 5.3 per game Illinois allows.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bostic is scoring 15.6 points per game and averaging 11.1 rebounds for the Fighting Illini.

Taylor McCabe is shooting 45.6% from beyond the arc with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Hawkeyes, while averaging 6.8 points.

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 6-4, averaging 68.2 points, 34.3 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 5.4 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 40.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.9 points per game.

Hawkeyes: 7-3, averaging 74.0 points, 36.9 rebounds, 18.2 assists, 7.5 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.