Illinois vs. Iowa Pick Center

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SPREAD

TOTAL

Illinois

+152

+4
(-110)

O 147
(-110)

Iowa

-179

-4
(-106)

U 147
(-110)

NCAAB

FINAL (2/2/2020)

Jan 31, 2020No. 19 Illinois will put its seven-game winning streak on the line when it visits No. 18 Iowa in a Big Ten Conference matchup Sunday afternoon in Iowa City.The Fighting Illini (16-5, 8-2 Big Ten) have the longest active winning streak in the conference and are off to their best Big Ten start since 2005, when they reached the NCAA championship game. Five of their past seven victories have come by single digits, including a 59-51 win over Minnesota on Thursday night."It was an all-around team effort," Illinois coach Brad Underwood told reporters. "But we need to evaluate our way back with our offense." Meanwhile, Iowa (15-6, 6-4) will attempt to bounce back from an 82-72 road loss against No. 15 Maryland on Thursday night. The result snapped a five-game winning streak for the Hawkeyes, who have not lost on their own campus since Nov. 11 against DePaul.Now comes a high-stakes matchup between rivals that are located only about 250 miles apart. Iowa has won four straight games over Illinois, which last beat the Hawkeyes on Feb. 18, 2017.Center Luka Garza leads Iowa on both ends of the court with 23 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-11, 260-pound junior also is averaging 1.8 blocks, but he got into foul trouble in the game at Maryland and played only 25 minutes."When they got in the bonus when we fouled, they made pretty much every one," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "We're a different team with Luka. The more he's out there, the better we are. Others have to step up (when he's in foul trouble)." Garza has drawn comparisons to Frank Kaminsky -- an ex-Wisconsin standout who went on to become an NBA first-round draft pick -- because of his progress as an upperclassman."When I was in high school, that was a guy I absolutely watched all the time, especially during his senior year," Garza told reporters. "It felt like I could be that type of guy if I continued to work hard enough. ... Hearing the comparison, it's a big compliment." Iowa also has two guards who are scoring in double digits: Joe Wieskamp, who is averaging 15 points per game, and CJ Fredrick, who is averaging 11.3 points per game. Fredrick is shooting 46.8 percent from 3-point range, which leads the team.As for Illinois, sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu is putting up 16 points per game on 48 percent shooting. He also is averaging 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest, and he has stood out with clutch shots in the final minute to help beat Michigan, Wisconsin and others.Freshman center Kofi Cockburn is next with 14.4 points per game to go along with a team-high 9.4 rebounds. Senior guard Andres Feliz is third with 10.8 points per game.Underwood recently praised Feliz, who also is averaging 4.8 rebounds and three assists."You look down at the stat sheet every night, and you see how valuable he is from points to rebounds to assists," Underwood said, "and the ability to make really hard plays." This is the first of two meetings between the programs during the regular season. They also are scheduled to meet March 8 in Champaign, Ill., in the final game before the Big Ten tournament.--Field Level Media