Illinois embraced their jump-shooting tendencies to great effect in an 87-77 win at Iowa. The Illini exploded for 1.30 points per possession--easily their best output of the season--by taking 38 percent of their shots from three and burying them at a 72 percent (!) clip. Things didn't go much better for the Hawkeyes when they forced Illinois inside the arc either, as the Illini shot 63 percent on twos. The only thing that kept this from being an otherworldly scoring effort for Illinois was some sloppy ballhandling (25 percent turnover rate).

Iowa came into the game sporting a top 30 defense nationally, as measured by adjusted defensive efficiency, but we commented a couple weeks ago that there may have been some luck in that early season stinginess. Opponents were taking plenty of threes, despite Iowa not being very tall or blocking many shots, so it stood to reason that these were fairly good looks from deep. Those opponents had shot just 29 percent on those three-point attempts, but it seemed likely that this number would go up considerably as the season carried on. Well, in one Big Ten game, the Hawkeyes saw some serious reversion to the mean. Things don't get any easier for the Iowa defense as they host Ohio State on Tuesday.

For Illinois, this was a welcome return to form after losing two straight games with poor shooting. Demetri McCamey scored 20 points (10 shots) and dished 10 assists, but he turned it over 5 times. D.J. Richardson and Bill Cole combined to shoot 9 of 11 from three and scored 31 points.

That's all well and good for the Illinois offense, but the troubling thing is what happened at the other end of the court--Iowa scored 1.15 points per possession, their second-best showing of the season. When Illinois can count only SIU-Edwardsville as a team that defended Iowa worse than they did, that's something to worry about. The Hawkeyes shot 53 percent on twos and 38 percent on threes, both well above what Illinois typically allows. Matt Gatens led the way with 21 points on 14 shots. The Illini had better tighten up that defense quickly, as Bo Ryan brings his Wisconsin Badgers to Champaign this Sunday on a streak of good offensive performances. If the Illini are serious about contending for a Big Ten title, they need a good showing in that game.

The conference now goes idle until Friday, when you can spend your New Year's Eve watching Big Ten hoops. At 11am CT, Northwestern visits Purdue (ESPN2). At 3pm CT, Michigan State hosts Minnesota (BTN). Finally, at 5pm CT, Ohio State travels to Indiana (ESPN2). See, you can enjoy all three games and still have time to ring in the New Year.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller