Illinois Fighting Illini at Iowa Hawkeyes

No. 16 Illinois builds big early lead, then holds off No. 19 Iowa, 75-69

The Illini (13-3, 4-1) won their fifth consecutive game and stayed tied for third place in the conference. Three of Illinois’ wins in conference play have come on the road — the Illini also won at Ohio State and Penn State.

Illinois led 58-41 with 11:25 to play when the Hawkeyes (12-4, 2-3) began to rally. They got to within four points four times in the last two minutes of the game, including at 71-67 with 55 seconds left with a chance to cut the lead further, but Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz missed a layup.

Iowa made most of its run without Stirtz, its leading scorer this season at 18 points per game. Stirtz picked up his fourth foul with 11:36 to go and went to the bench for seven minutes. During that stretch the Hawkeyes outscored the Illini 18-10.

Tavion Banks led Iowa with 16 points. Tate Sage scored 13, Stirtz had 12 and Cooper Koch added 10.

Illinois controlled all of the first half. The Illini led 8-0 after the first three minutes, getting open shots while Iowa was struggling at the other end of the court. The Hawkeyes had four missed shots and a turnover on their opening five possessions.

Illinois’ biggest lead of the first half was 29-11 with 7:34 to play before Iowa started to cut into the margin. The Hawkeyes hit three consecutive 3-pointers late in the half but couldn’t get the deficit to within single digits at halftime, missing their last five shots.

Up next Illinois: At Northwestern on Wednesday.

Iowa: At No. 5 Purdue on Wednesday.

How can I watch Illinois vs. Iowa?

• TV Channel: Illinois at Iowa 2021 College Basketball, week 10, is broadcasted on FOX.
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