Arena Adventures: Carver Hawkeye Arena

Arena Adventures: Entry #8

Arena: Carver Hawkeye Arena
City: Iowa City, IA
Date: December 29, 2010
Teams: #25 Illinois vs. Iowa

My second trip of the year to see my Illini play, 2-0 in games I have attended this year. Maybe that is a good sign for the January 22nd game at Assembly Hall? If you haven't been to Carver Hawkeye Arena before it is very funky; the outside looks like a restaurant and inside the concourse is completely above all of the seats. Basically it was built into the side of a hill.

Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

Illinois started off slow and was down 4 5:00 into the game at 11-15. Much had to do with the inability of the Illinois guards to contain Iowa City native Matt Gatens early. DJ Richardson and Bill Cole made back to back three's and the Illini never looked back. Illinois stretched it's first half lead to 13 on Freshman Jereme Richmond's tip in to make it 29-16.

Illinois took a 12 point lead (49-37) into the half when Iowa guard Bryce Cartwright hit a buzzer beater, seemingly taking the momentum into the locker room.But it wouldn't last. The Illini came out of halftime and went on a 9-2 run to push the lead to 19 at 58-39. It looked like the Illini were going to cruise, I was thrilled.

I'm following the Bill Simmons way;
I've got five years to teach my daughter
she bleeds Orange and Blue.

Credit the Hawkeyes, they were down and out yet they still continued to battle back. They played within themselves and played good enough defense to get the game back into single digits and make it a game again. Cutting the lead to as little as six, but in the end the Illini proved to be the better team and won by ten, 87-77.

Demetri McCamey lead the Illini with his second 20/10 game scoring 20 points, dishing out 10 dimes and adding in three boards. McCamey has been dynamite for the Illini all year and has positioned himself as a legit NBA prospect and potential first team All American and is clearly the best Point Guard in the Big Ten, not Jordan Taylor (yes I'm talking to you Shon Morris and Dan Dakich, seriously do you guys actually watch games?).

Billy Cole has been great for the Illini as well, he isn't flashy but he plays within himself and has not backed down from taking wide open treys (and nailing them). He has been the perfect glue guy for this team and hustles on each and every play.

Iowa looked pretty good though, not fantastic but I really do like the Fran McCaffery hire. It might be a few years but if he can get some athlete's to Iowa City they could have a very solid team and potentially compete for top half of the Big Ten. I don't see them winning any titles anytime soon but this is a good step for Iowa.

I like the improvement my Illini have made, we aren't clicking on all cylinders quite yet but I still see a talented team who could push for some March wins, especially when Jereme Richmond has continued to improve each and every game.