Despite a 15-13 record and a few bad losses this season, the Iowa men's basketball team was thought to have a small chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
To earn that bid, Iowa likely had to win out and then win a few games in the Big Ten Tournament.
The slim chances Iowa had at an at-large bid went up in smoke on Sunday after the Hawkeyes traveled to Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois, and suffered a 65-54 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illinois.
The Hawkeyes are averaging a Big Ten-best 72 points per game but was stymied by Illinois' tough defense and strong homecourt advantage in the loss. Iowa shot just 32 percent from the field, turned it over 17 times and was out-rebounded 35-27.
Senior Matt Gatens again did all he could to push Iowa to the win, but not even his 22 points and five 3-pointers were enough in the end. Sophomore Roy Devyn Marble was the only other player in double figures as he finished with 10 points and also had six assists, four steals and six turnovers.
Freshman Josh Oglesby scored nine points, while freshman Aaron White added eight points.
But Illinois' Meyers Leonard and Brandon Paul were both just too much to handle for Iowa. Both players usually start games for Illinois but came off the bench Sunday to propel the Illini to the win.
Illinois coach Bruce Weber may have been trying to send a message and help Illinois end a six-game winning streak.
His strategy worked as Leonard finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Paul added 17 points and three steals. They combined to help Illinois' bench outscore Iowa's 44-1. Iowa's lone bench point came from sophomore Melsahn Basabe.
Iowa scored the game's first five points, but then Illinois went on a 13-0 run and never looked back. Leonard was unstoppable in the first half as he reached his season averages in both points and rebounds by halftime.
After trailing by 11 at the break, Iowa got to within four with 13:49 to play in the game. But every time Iowa got close, Illinois would hit big, timely shots to swat the Hawkeyes back.
After Iowa got it to four, D.J. Richardson nailed a 3 to push it back to seven. Richardson was the other Illini in double figures as he scored 12.
Iowa got to within two at 49-47 with 6:07 left. And Illinois again came up with another big shot -- this time Paul nailed a 3 to again push the Hawkeyes back.
The closest Iowa got the rest of the way was five but immediately after that Leonard pushed the advantage back to eight with a three-point play in the lane.
Illinois was never threatened again as the Illini improved to 17-12 on the season and 6-10 in Big Ten play. Iowa is now 15-14 and 7-9 in league play.
The Hawkeyes can still finish about .500 but needs to win one of their two final games this season. They travel to Nebraska and then host Northwestern for Senior Day on Saturday.
Notes: The Hawkeyes were thought to be a possible bubble team because of their above .500 record and the fact that they have knocked off four top 25 teams this season in Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin twice.
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