Stirtz leads No. 19 Iowa against No. 16 Illinois after 21-point game

Audio By Carbonatix

Illinois Fighting Illini (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) at Iowa Hawkeyes (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten)

Iowa City, Iowa; Sunday, 12 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 19 Iowa hosts No. 16 Illinois after Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points in Iowa's 70-67 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Hawkeyes are 9-0 in home games. Iowa is 11-1 in games decided by 10 or more points.

The Fighting Illini have gone 3-1 against Big Ten opponents. Illinois scores 86.7 points while outscoring opponents by 19.4 points per game.

Iowa's average of 8.0 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.2 more made shots on average than the 7.8 per game Illinois gives up. Illinois averages 25.9 more points per game (86.7) than Iowa gives up (60.8).

The matchup Sunday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Stirtz is averaging 18 points, five assists and 1.7 steals for the Hawkeyes. Cooper Koch is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Keaton Wagler is averaging 15.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Fighting Illini. Andrej Stojakovic is averaging 13.4 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Hawkeyes: 7-3, averaging 74.6 points, 28.3 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 8.2 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.9 points per game.

Fighting Illini: 8-2, averaging 82.4 points, 37.3 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 3.2 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 47.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.3 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.