Illinois suffered a disappointing loss on Saturday in Iowa City, falling to the Hawkeyes, 81-79, snapping a 5-game winning streak against their newfound rivals.
While the loss was hard to swallow, the Illini went on the road and played extremely well, withstanding many Iowa offensive flurries and nearly overcoming a second-half free throw onslaught to pick up a huge road victory.
One of the biggest reasons for that? Blossoming freshman point guard Jayden Epps.
Epps has continued to impress across his freshman campaign, and Saturday’s performance in Iowa City may have been the best we’ve seen of him yet.