Illini Return To Winning Ways with Win Over Hawkeyes

The Fighting Illini held the visitors to 35.2% from the field and 16.7% from 3-point range in the second half, and they outscored the Hawkeyes, 20-10, over the final 5:53 of the game in the double-digit home victory.

The 10-point win saw the Orange and Blue become the second program to win 1,000 Big Ten games, while head coach Brad Underwood became the second Illini coach to record five consecutive 20-win seasons and the first since Lou Henson.

Coleman Hawkins bounced back with a career-high 30 points, including 17 in the second half and 10 points in the final 3:15 of the contest. Shooting 81.8% from the field, Hawkins made his final three attempts from the field while also going 9-for-11 from the free-throw line. He also tallied five assists, five steals, and two rebounds.

Justin Harmon finished in double figures for the second time in his last three games, pouring in 12 points off the bench, all of which came in the second half. Harmon went a perfect 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, and he was a spark on both ends of the floor. Finishing with a team-high +23 in his 19 minutes of action, he also totaled four rebounds and one assist.

Terrence Shannon Jr. extended his double-digit scoring streak to 31 games, collecting 12 points while also connecting from deep twice in the first half. Shannon also grabbed three rebounds and dished out three assists.

Niccolo Moretti took advantage of his career-high 17 minutes of action, recording a career-high nine points while also connecting from 3-point land twice for his first collegiate 3-pointers. Moretti amassed all of his minutes in the second half, earning the most minutes by an Illini player (17) over the final 20 minutes of play. He also notched two rebounds and one assist.

Marcus Domask ended his outing with eight points and six rebounds, while Quincy Guerrier accumulated nine points and three boards, including two rebounds on the offensive glass.

The Illini bench made the difference in the contest, as the Orange and Blue reserves tallied a combined 34 points and 20 rebounds. Dain Dainja finished with six points and grabbed a team-high eight boards off the bench, while Amani Hansberry totaled four points and four rebounds. Luke Goode registered a 3-pointer for the fourth time in his last five games.

Both teams started red-hot from the floor, combining to miss only one of their first eight shots through the opening three-and-a-half minutes of action. Hawkins tallied seven points prior to the first media timeout, though the sides were knotted at 12-12 through the opening four minutes.

Hawkins moved into double figures within the first five minutes of the game, a stretch that saw neither team lead by more than three points. Both teams went on 6-0 runs prior to the halfway point in the first half, but four lead changes through the opening 10 minutes saw neither team able to pull away.

With the Hawkeyes holding a two-point edge with nine minutes left in the first half, the Illini used a 7-0 run over a 44-second span to take a five-point advantage, the hosts' largest lead of the frame. Guerrier scored five points during that stretch before catching and converting an alley-oop for a dunk less than one minute later.

The Orange and Blue held a 32-27 edge with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening period of play, but the Hawkeyes took a five-point advantage three minutes later following a 12-2 run for the visitors. The Illini responded with a 10-2 stretch of their own, fueled by five points from Shannon and a ferocious flush from Guerrier, to go back in front.

Illinois eventually went into halftime with a narrow 44-43 advantage following a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes of action. The Illini had eight different players register at least two points in the first half, led by Hawkins' game-high 13 points at the break. The home side tallied seven 3-pointers prior to the intermission, including multiple makes from Hawkins and Shannon.

The Hawkeyes pieced together a 5-0 run out of the break to put the visitors back in front before the Illini got on the board via a strong four-minute shift from Illinois' bench. With Iowa ahead by four with 13-and-a-half minutes remaining in the contest, Hawkins registered his first points since the 11:13 mark in the first half with a crafty finish through contact. The unconventional  3-point play cut the hosts' deficit to a single point.

After Iowa extended its advantage to seven points, Illinois pulled back in front via a 10-2 run. Moretti scored the final six points of that scoring spurt, both of which came from beyond the arc for his first 3-pointers at the collegiate level.

The Illini's 67-66 lead did not last for long, though, as the Hawkeyes used four free throws to take a three-point edge with 9:31 to play. Illinois responded with four makes from the stripe, all of which came from Harmon, to put the home side back in front with less than eight minutes remaining in the contest.

With the game tied at 75 apiece, the Orange and Blue put together a 5-0 run to give the Illini their largest lead of the second half up to that point. Domask opened that stretch with his first 3-pointer of the day before Hawkins came up with a steal and found Shannon, whose behind-the-back pass found Harmon for the transition layup.

The Illini built onto their advantage by going on a 7-0 run, which included five points from Hawkins to bring him to a career-best total. Leading by as many as 11 points late in the contest, Illinois secured a bounce-back victory to secure its 20th victory of the campaign.

No. 12 Illinois (20-7, 11-5 B1G) wraps up its two-game homestand on Wednesday, when Minnesota makes the trip to Champaign. The contest is the lone regular-season meeting between the sides, and it will tip off at 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.