Feb. 08--After watching one of North Carolina's losses last week on television, Illinois coach John Groce could relate to Tar Heels coach Roy Williams.
"I saw Coach Williams' comment about how much he liked his team, which is how much I like my team," Groce said Sunday. "Sometimes when adversity hits, we have to be tougher. That's how I feel. I like our guys. But I'd like them to be a heck of a lot tougher when we got punched in the mouth."
Illinois was mostly on the receiving end of a slugfest at the State Farm Center, where the Illini fell 77-65 to No. 5 Iowa. The loss was the fourth straight at home for the Illini (11-13, 3-8 Big Ten).
Illinois struggled to hit two-point shots in the first half (5 of 19) and were dominated 26-6 by Iowa on second-chance points overall.
The Hawkeyes (19-4, 10-1) outrebounded Illinois 43-32 as Illinois' top two big men (Leron Black and Mike Thorne Jr.) continued to sit out with knee injuries. Iowa's Adam Woodbury (10 points, 14 rebounds) and Jarrod Uthoff (18 points, 12 rebounds) led the way with double-doubles.
Iowa guard Peter Jok led all scorers with 23 points.
The Illini weren't helped by a 2-of-13 shooting effort from guard Kendrick Nunn, who finished with six points.
"He just didn't have it today," Groce said.
Malcolm Hill was limited to 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting as Iowa double-teamed him, while freshman guard Jalen Coleman-Lands led the Illini with 17 points. Freshman guard D.J. Williams (eight points and four rebounds in 15 minutes) also provided a spark.
But Groce was mostly concerned about his team's toughness, a running theme for the inconsistent Illini.
"I thought we had taken a step in the right direction with some of our comebacks, Ohio State, Minnesota, Rutgers," Groce said. "I don't want to downplay the resiliency they showed in those games. The sustainability of that has been low. We have to be a lot mentally tougher for the duration of games than we are right now."
Groce said that falls on the team's veterans.
"It needs to be our older guys," he said. "They need to find a way to come together. They know what toughness looks like. They know what toughness doesn't look like. We have to demand more out of them. We have to hold them more accountable. At the end of the day, it's a choice."
Injury to the future: Illinois recruit Te'Jon Lucas, a point guard from Milwaukee's Washington High School, broke his ankle in two places, he announced on Twitter. He was injured on Saturday night in a game that took place in Champaign while Groce was watching.
sryan@tribpub.com
