CHAMPAIGN — Coleman Hawkins scored a career-high 30 points, and No. 12 Illinois rallied from a seven-point deficit in the second half to beat Iowa 95-85 on Saturday for the 1,000th Big Ten win in program history.
Terrance Shannon Jr. and Justin Harmon each scored 12 points and Dain Dainja had eight rebounds for the Illini (20-7, 11-5).
Nico Moretti, who failed to score in Illinois’ last three games, had eight points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers, helping to spark the rally. Moretti last scored on Jan. 18 against Michigan.
“You can tell Nico is a coach’s kid,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “He has never asked me what he needs to do to play more. He just shows up and works hard every day. I guarantee you he didn’t know he was going to play 17 minutes today, but he was ready.
“He’s the ultimate team guy, and that was an incredible team win for us. It wasn’t easy.”
It was a bounce-back game for Hawkins, who scored nine points, missed two free-throw attempts and fouled Penn State’s Zach Hicks on a 3-point shot in the final 13 seconds of Illinois’ 90-89 loss Wednesday. Hicks’ three free throws with three seconds left won the game.
“What did I do to flush the Penn State game? I got off social media, deleted some apps and limited who I talked to,” Hawkins said. “Basically I just had to be a man and own up to my mistakes.”
Josh Dix scored 20 points, Tony Perkins 18 and Payton Sandfort 12, and Owen Freeman chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds for Iowa (16-12, 8-9), which led 64-57 with 12 minutes, 15 seconds left in the second half but failed to hold on.
“Hawkins shoots NBA-level 3s and can take the ball to the hoop. He’s a tough guy to guard,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “And their bench guys are good players. Give them credit. They played well.”
Hawkins scored 13 points in the first nine minutes of the first half as Illinois led 44-43 at the break.
With the win, Illinois remained in second place in the conference, two games behind No. 3 Purdue (13-3), with four Big Ten games remaining.
The Illini have won 20 or more games in five straight seasons under Underwood. He’s only the second Illinois coach to accomplish the feat. Lou Henson won 20 or more games nine seasons in a row from 1983-91.
Big picture
Iowa: After back-to-back wins over Big Ten heavyweights Wisconsin and Michigan State, the Hawkeyes seem poised for a late-season run in an effort to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The loss derailed those plans, at least temporarily.
Illinois: The Illini defense has been porous this month, and it wasn’t any better against an Iowa team that was averaging 83.4 points coming into the game and reached 100 points four times this season. Illinois has given up at least 80 points in five of its six February games while going 4-2. Opponents had scored 83 or more points just four times in 20 games before February.
Up next
Iowa: Plays host to Penn State on Tuesday.
Illinois: Plays host to Minnesota on Wednesday.
Steve Stein , 2024-02-24 23:10:43
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