Iowa (12-9, 2-6) at Illinois (17-4, 5-3)

When: 1 p.m. at Assembly Hall

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: WIND 560-AM

Skinny: After a performance for the dark ages on Thursday at Minnesota - Illinois' 36 points served as the school's worst showing in 24 seasons - the Illini can return to the light against the struggling Hawkeyes. Iowa big man Cyrus Tate (7.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg) will miss his fifth game in a row due to a bad ankle, while top-flight freshman Anthony Tucker (10.4 ppg) is ineligible. That leaves the Hawks with freshman Matt Gatens (team-high 10.9 ppg) and former Illini oral commit David Palmer. This stat might be relevant today: After Illinois' three previous losses, Bruce Weber's bunch won its ensuing game by an average of 27.7 points.

- Lindsey Willhite