All good for Illini

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Yes, that was Illinois making almost all of its free throws.

And feeding the post instead of settling for 3-pointers.

And getting big production from its freshmen off the bench.

And cooperating instead of bickering during crucial moments.

Those season-long rarities, when combined with Illinois' season-long tendency to defend like crazy, led to a 58-47 Big Ten win over Iowa on Saturday before an announced Senior Day sellout of 15,500 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

It marked the second time in three weeks the Illini (12-17, 4-12) used their scheduled bye to improve enough to deserve a double-digit road victory the next time out. Illinois smacked Minnesota by 24 on Feb. 12.

"I didn't think a bye would be good at this time of the year," Illini coach Bruce Weber said. "But it maybe helped us because we went at it hard in practice."

"I think it was, overall, maybe our best team game we've had this year," said senior center Shaun Pruitt, who led the way with 18 points and 7 rebounds.

"I wish we would've had more, but we did a great job tonight (working the offense) inside-out and defensive-wise."

Pruitt was instrumental in the game's 2 biggest baskets.

As Iowa (12-18, 5-12) made a run to chop a 12-point deficit to 45-40 with six minutes to go, the crowd perked up and Illinois appeared to be mired in a typical second-half drought.

Pruitt received the ball in the post, held it, drew some defensive help and then kicked it out to Trent Meacham for a perfect 3-pointer.

"It was a big shot," Meacham said. "We hadn't had many baskets for a while."

Then, after Iowa climbed within 5 points again on Tony Freeman's 3-point play with 2:21 to go, Pruitt posted up and tossed up a left-handed hook that Iowa junior Cyrus Tate goaltended needlessly.

"I thought the ball was going to be short," Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. "I don't know what Cyrus thought or what he saw."

From there, the Illini continued to make free throws like they didn't remember they entered the game as the nation's ninth-worst free-throw shooting team at 60.2 percent.

Illinois bagged a season-best 14 of 17 free throws, including 4 of 4 from Pruitt.

"It's a miracle," Weber gushed.

While somewhat less of a miracle, Illini freshman forward Mike Davis received the chance to play a career-high 22 minutes off the bench and delivered his best game as a collegian.

"Everybody was on the same page," Davis said. "No yelling at each other."

The 6-foot-9, 207-pound Davis contributed 8 points, a career-high 5 rebounds and career-high-tying 2 blocks.

"We had a scrimmage Wednesday with referees, and he was our leading scorer," Weber said. "I think he earned the time and he produced."

One other revelation from that scrimmage? Weber had players chasing Pruitt all over the gym to foul him intentionally - and it didn't work.

"I was always the best at tag when I was little," Pruitt said, deadpan. "I just look slow."