IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) Luka Garza bounced back from a slow start to score 25 points and No. 18 Iowa clamped down in the final four minutes to beat No. 19 Illinois 72-65 on Sunday.
Garza, the Big Ten’s top scorer, didn’t have a point in the first 15 minutes. He wound up making a career-high four 3-pointers and shot 9 of 16 overall. He also had 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season.
Illinois (16-6, 8-3), which had won seven in a row, led 62-61 with 4:03 to play. But the Hawkeyes (16-6, 7-4) then shut out the Illini until Ayo Dosunmu hit a 3 with four seconds left.
Iowa made hit five of its last seven shots. Joe Wieskamp and CJ Fredrick each had 18 points.
Andres Feliz led Illinois with 17 points. Trent Frazier had 12 points and Dosunmu 11.
WINNING ANYWHERE
Iowa has a five-game winning streak over the Illini, with the wins coming on four different courts – at Champaign and Iowa City in the regular season, and at New York and Chicago in the Big Ten Tournament.
BIG PICTURE
The Illini fell back into a tie for first place with Michigan State. The Illini, Spartans and Maryland have three losses in conference play.
Iowa got back within one game of the Big Ten lead.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Illini shouldn’t fall in the poll — they won at home against Minnesota on Thursday.
The Hawkeyes should also stay around where they’re at — they won two of three games this week, with the loss being at Maryland.
UP NEXT
Illinois: The Illini play host to Maryland on Friday.
Iowa: The Hawkeyes play Wednesday at Purdue.
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