No. 12 Illinois Hands Iowa 73-61 Loss, Big 10 Tourney Pairings

Leading by as many as 21 points, the Fighting Illini finished with the conference's second-best road record in Big Ten play with a 6-4 mark away from State Farm Center.

Terrence Shannon Jr. surpassed the 20-point scoring mark for the 15th time this season, including in each of the Illini's last six road games, en route to a game-high 25 points.

Scoring in double figures for the 35th game in a row, Shannon amassed 18 points in the first half before finishing with a team-best scoring mark for the 16th time this season.

Making three 3-pointers, he also totaled three rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.

Quincy Guerrier scored in double figures for the third time in his last four games, tallying his ninth double-double of the season with 14 points and a team-most 13 rebounds.

Guerrier connected twice from beyond the arc and grabbed three of his 13 boards on the offensive glass.

Marcus Domask recorded eight of his 11 points in the second half, which brought him into double figures for the fourth game in a row and the 21st time in his last 22 appearances. Domask also snagged four rebounds, dished out three assists, and made one steal.

Dain Dainja added nine points off the bench, his most in a road game this season. Dainja notched seven points in the second half, and he hauled in two of his five rebounds on the offensive glass. He also made two blocks, which equaled his season-best mark and set a new season-high tally in conference play.

Ty Rodgers ended his night with seven points and eight rebounds, three of which came on the offensive end of the floor. 

Coleman Hawkins grabbed double-digit rebounds for the third time this season, finishing with four points, 10 boards, three assists, and one block.

Never trailing in the contest, Illinois held Iowa to its lowest scoring total this season, while the visitors also outrebounded the home side at a 50-33 clip, including 10-3 on the offensive glass. The Orange and Blue's dominance in the lane also reflected in the 38-26 advantage in points in the paint.

The Illini opened the contest on a 10-0 run, as Guerrier and Shannon each tallied four points through the first five minutes of play. After the Hawkeyes got their first basket of the evening, Illinois continued to add onto its lead by going on a 7-0 run over the next 60 seconds.

The Orange and Blue took advantage of a three-minute stretch during which they made six consecutive field-goal attempts to go ahead, 17-2, after eight minutes of play.
Iowa cut into its deficit from the free-throw line, but Illinois built onto its double-digit edge via an 8-2 run, which included Guerrier's second 3-pointer of the game and a Shannon fast-break and-1 bucket. Holding the Hawkeyes to 1-for-14 from the field to begin the contest, the Illini led by as many as 19 through the opening 10 minutes of the evening.
With Illinois' advantage down to 16 points, Shannon moved into double figures with five points in the span of just 22 seconds, which grew the visitors' lead to 30-9 just after the halfway mark in the opening frame. 

The Hawkeyes settled in and used a 14-2 run to cut what was once a 21-point deficit down to single digits with four minutes to go before halftime. Shannon connected from 3-point range shortly after, though, which moved the Illini's lead back into double figures.

After coming up with a chase-down block in transition with just over one minute to play in the half, Shannon went into the break with a game-high 18 points, which helped give the Orange and Blue a 39-29 lead through the opening 20 minutes. The Illini got going in transition in the first half, as they tallied 12 fast-break points prior to the intermission.

Illinois quickly got back to work in the second half, opening the frame with a 7-3 run. Guerrier reached double figures during that stretch, while Shannon surpassed the 20-point mark to extend the Illini's edge to 46-32.

Though Rodgers was credited for the visitors' next four points, a 15-5 Iowa run cut Illinois' advantage to four points with just over 11 minutes remaining. Domask then tallied four consecutive points, including a spinning fadeaway jumper from just inside the arc to beat the shot clock, before Dainja accounted for the next four.

The pair combined for all eight points during the Illini's 8-0 run over a two-minute stretch, helping Illinois re-establish a double-digit lead, 59-47, with 9:30 remaining. Dainja's dunk during that span brought him up to three field goals on the day, equaling his most in a road game this season.

Two minutes later, after the Hawkeyes recorded back-to-back 3-pointers, the Illini put together a 7-0 run, which included a 3-point play from Domask to bring him into double figures. Holding Iowa scoreless for over three-and-a-half minutes, Illinois' advantage grew to 67-53 with three minutes left on the clock.

Despite multiple Hawkeye 3-pointers late in the contest, dunks from Shannon and Guerrier with under two minutes remaining put an exclamation point on the Illini's road victory in the final game of the regular season.

No. 12 Illinois finishes the regular season with a 23-8 record, including a 14-6 mark in Big Ten play. The Illini earned the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament, and they will begin their postseason run on Friday in the the quarterfinals. Illinois will take on the winner of [7] Iowa vs. [10] Ohio State at the Target Center in Minneapolis at 5:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.

BIG TEN TOURNAMENT

Wednesday, March 13

First Round

Game 1: No. 12 Maryland vs. No. 13 Rutgers, 6:30 p.m. (Peacock)

Game 2: No. 11 Penn State vs. No. 14 Michigan, approx. 8:55 p.m. (Peacock)

Thursday, March 14

Game 3: No. 8 Michigan State vs. No. 9 Minnesota, noon (Big Ten Network)

Game 4: No. 5 Wisconsin vs. Game 1 winner, approx. 2:25 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

Game 5: No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Ohio State, 6:30 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

Game 6: No. 6 Indiana vs. Game 2 winner, approx. 8:55 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

Friday, March 15

Quarterfinals

Game 7: No. 1 Purdue vs. Game 3 winner, noon (Big Ten Network)

Game 8: No. 4 Northwestern vs. Game 4 winner, approx. 2:25 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

Game 9: No. 2 Illinois vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

Game 10: No. 3 Nebraska vs. Game 6 winner, approx. 8:55 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

Saturday, March 16

Semifinals

Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, approx. 3:25 p.m. (CBS)

Sunday, March 17

Final

Game 13: Semifinal winners, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)