So let Indiana’s horses run free. Players like Myles Rice, Mackenzie Mgbako, Trey Galloway and Luke Goode, among others, can play this way. Let them, and we’ll see whether Indiana can beat Iowa at its own game.

Iowa can earn a Quad 2 win with a victory over Indiana and 7-foot star center Oumar Ballo on Saturday. The Hoosiers beat the Hawkeyes in one meeting last season.

They lost 85-60 in what was the most lopsided conference loss during the regular season of the Mike Woodson era. Not including the postseason, it was IU's fourth Big Ten loss by 20 points or more during Woodson's tenure and the 12th loss of 15 points or more.

Indiana hosts the Illinois Fighting Illini after Yarden Garzon scored 21 points in Indiana's 74-67 victory against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The defeat marked Indiana’s largest in a true road game since Jan. 19, 2018, in a 28-point loss at Michigan State. It was the Hoosiers’ second-largest margin in a loss this season, and each of their four defeats have come by 16 or more points.

Indiana’s inconsistency continued. They won a thrilling road game against Ohio State after being dominated at home by Illinois earlier in the week. Meanwhile, the women won a massive game in Iowa City before falling to the Illini at Assembly Hall.

The Iowa Hawkeyes did not know where they would play just over 24 hours before facing a talented but struggling UCLA squad on Friday.

Illinois' Adalia McKenzie (24) gets past Indiana's Chloe Moore-McNeil (22) and Lilly Meister to score during the Indiana versus Illinois women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Big Ten women's college basketball excitement continues tonight on Peacock. It's Illinois vs Indiana at 7, followed by Ohio State vs Wisconsin at 9 PM.

Beat writer Joe Vozzelli preview's Illini's matchup with Hoosiers, as Illinois seeks first Big Ten winning streak of 2024-25 season

Kylan Boswell and the rest of the No. 19 Illinois men’s basketball team showed their potential on Tuesday night with a 94-69 rout of host Indiana in Bloomington, Ind. Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter ( @srrichey ).