Iowa vs Illinois Stats Recap

It was good to see Carver almost full again, even if there were some Illini fans responsible for that. This game marked the beginning of Big 10 conference play. Lets hope the Hawkeyes can pull off some upsets. Now, bullet points!

• Iowa shot better than their season average. They made 52.5% of their 2pt FG (48.39% season average), 37.5% of their 3pt FG (33.19% season average), for a 53.91% effective FG% (48.81% season average). If you prefer FG% to eFG%, then they shot 46.88% (43.8% season average). 
• Unfortunately the Illini also shot better than their season average, as they were unconscious all night. They hit 63.33% of their 2pt FG, a ridiculous 72.22% of their 3pt FG. Both of those made for an insane 80.21% (thanks to all those 3pt FG) effective FG%, or 66.67% FG%. They just simply did not miss from when the ball was tipped until the final buzzer sounded.
• Iowa's one lone advantage coming into this game was their rebounding. Especially, offensive rebounding, as Illinois was 6% worse than NCAA D1 average at letting opponents grab offensive rebounds. As predicted, the offensive rebounding was good. Iowa grabbed 40.54% of all offensive rebounds available. They also grabbed 66.67% of all defensive rebounds available, which is a little low for Iowa, but still better than Illinois. It looks like rebounding is Iowa's strength this year.
• Technically, Illinois got more rebounds, 28 to 27 (50.91% to 49.09%), than Iowa. But Illinois only pulled down 33.33% of offensive rebounds available and 59.46% of defensive rebounds available. Both totals were about 7% lower than Iowa's totals.
• Illinois shared the ball really well on offense (it also helped that they rarely missed a shot), finishing 29.78% of their possessions with an assisted FG. Iowa only finished 18.81% of their possessions with an assisted FG.
• Iowa's defense did do a good job of winning the turnover battle, forcing Illinois into a turnover on 25.32% of their possessions. On offense, Iowa had a 1 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, also turning the ball over on 18.81% of their possessions.
• In the paint, Iowa scored 30 points or 71.43% of their 2pt FG. Illinois scored 28 points in the paint, good for 73.68% of their 2pt FG. 
• Iowa's player of the game was Matt Gatens. He had 21 points (0.53 points per minute), hitting 50% of his 2pt FG attempts, and 50% of his 3pt FG attempts. That was good for a 67.86% effective FG% or a 50% FG%. 
• Jarryd Cole also had a great game with 10 points and 9 rebounds (7 offensive rebounds). He had an insane 77.78 offensive rebounding rate vs Illinois. He also averaged 0.36 rebounds per minute on the court.
• Overall, Illinois' shooting led to them averaging 1.3 points per possession. Iowa shot much better than their season average, coming up with 1.15 points per possession. In the end, though, it just wasn't enough.