National Basketball Association
Illinois 80, Iowa 75
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, January 29, 2021
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials:
# Larry Scirotto, # Paul Szelc, # DJ Cartensen
Attendance:
190
By Field Level Media
Ayo Dosunmu pumped in a game-high 25 points and Trent Frazier added 24 Friday night as No. 19 Illinois climbed into a tie for second place in the Big Ten Conference with an 80-75 win over No. 7 Iowa in Champaign, Ill.
Jacob Grandison scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Fighting Illini (11-5, 7-3 Big Ten), putting them ahead to stay with 2:23 left when he canned a corner 3-pointer for a 74-72 lead. Andre Curbelo and Frazier connected on two free throws each to up the lead to six in the last minute.
Jordan Bohannon's 3-pointer pulled the Hawkeyes (12-4, 6-3) within three points with 11.7 seconds left, and a five-second call gave Iowa a chance to tie. however, Bohannon's running 3-point attempt clanged off the rim, and Kofi Cockburn rebounded for Illinois.
Cockburn was fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one, but he grabbed the offensive board and drew another foul. He then sank both free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining to ice it.
Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp each scored 19 points for Iowa. Garza went 9-for-18 from the field and was held eight points under his average. Connor McCaffery chipped in 11.
Both teams came out of the gate flying. Dosunmu's driving layup on the game's first possession set the tone. At the first TV timeout, just over five minutes in, Illinois owned a 14-13 edge.
Iowa fought back and grabbed a 26-20 lead at the 10:45 mark on Joe Toussaint's jumper, but the Illini responded. Dosunmu rattled off six straight points in a 2:56 span to give the hosts a 32-28 advantage with 5:33 remaining.
The teams spent the half's remainder swapping small leads until Frazier flung a desperation 3-pointer against tough defense and the shot clock. It dropped with seven seconds left, enabling Illinois to head for the locker room with a 43-41 lead.
Dosunmu and Frazier combined for 33 points in the half as they canned 15 of 21 field-goal attempts.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Iowa |
|
Illinois |
|
Luka Garza 19 |
Scoring |
Ayo Dosunmu 25 |
|
Jordan Bohannon 5 |
Assists |
Andre Curbelo 8 |
|
Keegan Murray 8 |
Rebounds |
Kofi Cockburn 10 |
|
Joe Wieskamp 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Kofi Cockburn 5 |
|
Luka Garza 1 |
Steals |
Kofi Cockburn 2 |
|
Jack Nunge 4 |
Blocks |
Kofi Cockburn 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Iowa
|
75 |
43.1 |
10-25 |
3-6 |
17 |
30 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
| Illinois
|
80 |
50.0 |
8-19 |
14-17 |
15 |
36 |
1 |
6 |
14 |
For more information, contact us