Takeaways as Iowa basketball suffers tight home loss vs. Illinois

Coming off a frustrating road loss to Minnesota on Tuesday, No. 19 Iowa returned home to the friendly confines of Carver-Hawkeye Arena looking to get back on track.

Instead, they ran into the buzzsaw that is No. 16 Illinois and never led in a 75-69 loss to the Fighting Illini. The Hawkeyes spent most of the afternoon trying to come back after digging themselves into an early 18-point hole. The comeback effort came up short, as Iowa didn’t execute enough on both sides of the court late to come away with a win.

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The loss drops Iowa to 12-4 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten play. While there were some positive signs in this game for Ben McCollum’s team, there were also some big issues that could derail any hopes of an NCAA Tournament appearance or run in March.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ home defeat to Illinois:

Tavion Banks battled

Iowa’s Tavion Banks (6) reacts after being called for a foul during a game against the Illinois Fighting Illini Jan. 11, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

The best Hawkeye on the court Sunday by a mile was Tavion Banks, which is surprising considering his status for this game was in serious doubt Sunday morning. Banks was questionable for this game and wasn’t in the starting lineup like he usually is.

Afterwards, Iowa head coach Ben McCollum revealed that Banks has been sick and that the 6-foot-7 forward had lost 10 pounds in the past few days.

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Banks finished with a team-leading 16 points off the bench on 8-of-14 shooting. He filled up the stat sheet, adding seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals as well. The senior forward changed the game when he entered and gave Iowa a dose of energy it desperately needed after a tough start. Despite the result, this is a game and performance that Banks can build off of going forward.

Iowa basketball never gave up

Iowa forward Cooper Koch (8) looks to pass the basketball against Illinois forward David Mirkovic (0) Jan. 11, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena…

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Publish date : 2026-01-12 12:45:00

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