Garza propels No. 18 Iowa past No. 19 Illinois

[February 03, 2020]  Luka Garza had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lift No. 18 Iowa to a 72-65 win over No. 19 Illinois on Sunday afternoon in a Big Ten Conference matchup in Iowa City, Iowa.

CJ Fredrick finished with 18 points while making 6 of 8 shots from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range. Joe Wieskamp also scored 18 points for Iowa (16-6, 7-4), which improved to 11-1 on its home court.

Andres Feliz scored 17 points off the bench to lead Illinois (16-6, 8-3), which saw its seven-game winning streak came to an end. Trent Frazier had 12 points and Ayo Dosunmu scored 11 for the Fighting Illini.

Iowa outscored Illinois 42-34 in the second half to secure the victory.

The Fighting Illini led 59-55 with 5:30 remaining after Feliz grabbed an offensive rebound and put back a layup.

Iowa called a timeout before seizing control the rest of the way. The Hawkeyes closed the game on a 17-6 run, which started with a pair of free throws by Fredrick after Frazier was whistled for a foul.

Garza provided a go-ahead layup with 4:34 remaining to give Iowa a 61-59 edge. He struck again with a 3-pointer in the final minute to boost Iowa's lead to seven points.

Dosunmu made a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining for Illinois, but by then it was too late.

Illinois led 31-30 at the half.

The score was even when Illinois went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 23-15 with 5:20 remaining in the first half. Kofi Cockburn started the run with a layup, and Alan Griffin added back-to-back 3-pointers to prompt the Hawkeyes to call timeout.

Iowa Hawkeyes center Luka Garza (55) reacts during the first half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The break worked perfectly for Iowa, which came out of the timeout on a 13-2 to run gain a 28-25 advantage with 2:19 left in the half. Garza scored 11 of Iowa's 13 points during the run with a three-point play, a pair of 3-pointers and a layup.

Iowa made 50 percent of its shots (25 of 50) from the field and 43.5 percent (10 of 23) from 3-point range.

Illinois shot 41.4 percent (24 of 58) from the field and 36.4 percent (8 of 22) from beyond the arc.

--Field Level Media

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