Illinois holds on for stunning 68-66 upset of No. 20 Iowa
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) â?? Jalen Coleman-Lands scored 17 points and Malcolm Hill broke a tie with a 16-foot jumper with 1:14 to go Thursday, helping Illinois fend off No. 20 Iowa's frantic comeback for a stunning 68-66 upset in the Big Ten tournament.
The Fighting Illini (15-18) won for only the second time in six games â?? this one after allowing the Hawkeyes (21-10) to score 11 straight points in 98 seconds to tie the score at 66 with 1:40 to play.
Hill gave Illinois the lead with his mid-range jumper and the struggling Hawkeyes didn't score again. Illinois faces No. 13 Purdue in Friday's quarterfinals.
Iowa (21-10) was led by Peter Jok, who tied his career high with 29 points before fouling out. Jarrod Uhthoff scored 21 points as the Hawkeyes lost five of their last six.
Kendrick Nunn had 16 points for Illinois.
It was an implausible finish to a wild game.
Nunn's 3 with 10:49 to go gave Illinois a seemingly comfortable 61-50 lead. But the Illini managed only three more baskets including Coleman-Lands' 3 with 3:30 to go, which made it 66-55.
But two fouls and a turnover gave Iowa a second chance. Uthoff completed a 3-point play, an offensive rebound led to dunk by Nicholas Baer, Dom Uhl knocked down a 3-pointer and Baer tied with another 3-point play.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Iowa must wait to see how much its late-season swoon will hurt it in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Just a couple of weeks ago, Iowa was in position to win the Big Ten's regular-season title. While the Hawkeyes are still expected to make the 68-team field, their seeding could take a significant hit after they went 2-6 in their last eight.
TIP-INS
Fighting Illini: Improved to 2-6 this season against Top 25 teams. ... Nunn became the 48th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark, finishing the game with 1,005. ... Hill had six points, leaving him two short of becoming the first Illinois player to record 600 points, 200 rebounds and 100 assists in one season. ... Coleman-Lands was 5 of 10 on 3s, giving him the school's freshman record with 87 â?? two more than Corey Bradford had in 1999.
Hawkeyes: Had beaten Illinois six of the previous seven games in this series. ... Iowa shot 40.3 percent from the field but had a 40-30 rebounding edge including a 16-8 advantage in offensive rebounds. ... Baer finished with eight points and was the only player other than Jok or Uthoff to finish with more than three. ... Jok fouled out with 4:02 to go after the officials called a double technical foul following a replay review. Jok and Nunn were involved in a shoving match under the Hawkeyes' basket.
UP NEXT
Fighting Illini: Face No. 13 Purdue in the second Big Ten quarterfinal game Friday.
Hawkeyes: Will wait to see who and where they play in the postseason.