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Last night was a game the Iowa Hawkeyes had to win. They hosted a very similar Illinois Fighting Illini team and needed to get a victory to enter NCAA Tournament talks again.
Roy Devyn Marble, shot them back to the bubble with a game-high 21 points on 5 for 12 shooting from the field and a perfect 10 for 10 from the foul line.
The win now gives Iowa 19 victories on the year and with another win could put them in the big dance come selection time next Sunday.
Iowa is now eighth in the Big Ten standings and one win away from finishing .500 in conference play. They host the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Senior Day Saturday which should be a win and propel this team to a possible berth. If it wasn’t for the loss at Nebraska a few weeks ago I’d say the win last night would put them in, but they now need some help and a win Saturday.
I don’t see how the selection committee could leave a team like Iowa out when they finished .500 in their conference and won 20 games during the regular season. They made their way back to the bubble now and can control their own destiny with winning their next two games.
Illinois plays at a red hot Ohio State team this weekend which could easily be a loss. Minnesota has to play at Purdue still so if both of those teams lose and Iowa wins on Saturday they will finish sixth in the final standings. It’s hard to leave the team that finished sixth in conference play out when two teams that finished behind them got in.
That also puts Iowa with a game against either Nebraska or Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago which should easily be a win. That should be enough to get them by.
That’s why the win last night was so big and good that Marble put this team and fan base on his back.
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