INDIANAPOLIS — If Illinois put an end to Fran McCaffery’s 15-year tenure at Iowa, it was a fitting one.
Iowa shot 54.9% from the field but still lost due to porous defense, and the fiery McCaffery was ejected for two technical foul calls midway through the second half.
Kylan Boswell scored a career-high 24 points and dished a team-high seven assists to lead No. 7 seed Illinois (21-11) to a 106-94 second-round Big Ten Tournament win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and quarterfinal date against No. 2 seed Maryland at 5:30 p.m. CT Friday.
Tomislav Ivisic had 19 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six assists for the Illini, who have won four straight. Tre White added 22 points and five rebounds, while Will Riley had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Illinois, which has won nine of 10 against Iowa. Kasparas Jakucionis had 10 points (7-8 FT) but had six turnovers.
Payton Sandfort scored a game-high 30 points, hitting 8 of 13 from three, to lead Iowa (17-16), while Josh Dix added 21 points.
Illinois outrebounded Iowa 41-24, and had 17 second-chance points. Illinois also improved to 11-0 this season when making 11+ threes, hitting 12 of 26 from beyond the arc.
Iowa made 11 of its first 17 shots to take a 24-21 lead behind nine points from Josh Dix, but Illinois kept pace behind hot starts from Will Riley and Tomislav Ivisic, who combined for 18 of the Illini’s first 23 points, and Illinois went on a 9-2 run — sparked by four quick points from Morez Johnson Jr., playing in his first game since suffering a wrist fracture on Feb. 15 — to take a 30-26 lead. But Payton Sandfort hit back-to-back 3-pointers to reclaim the lead for Iowa, 32-30. Illinois then went on a 12-3 run with four different players scoring to take its largest lead 47-39 with two minutes left. But Iowa went on an 8-2 run, sparked by two Payton Sandfort 3-pointers — including one at the buzzer — to trim the deficit to 49-45 at halftime.
The Hawkeyes cut it to 49-47 right out of halftime, but Illinois then went on a 7-0 run, sparked by a Tre White 3-pointer to build a 56-47 lead. Boswell made back-to-back 3-pointers to give Illinois its first double-digit lead, 67-57. McCaffery then was ejected with 13:33 left, and Jakucionis made four straight technical foul free throws to give Illinois a 73-60 lead.
Iowa kept pushing the pace and got some fastbreak buckets, and Sandfort tried to keep the hawkeyes in the game with a couple of 3-pointers. But Iowa had no answer for the Illini offense as Illinois went on a 10-2 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Boswell and Ben Humrichous, to take a 92-76 lead with 7:20 left. Iowa hung around with an 8-1 run to trim the deficit to 93-84 with five minutes left. But Will Riley scored six straight points to key an 8-2 run to take a 101-86 lead and put the nail in the coffin for Iowa.
What it means: Illinois continues to build some momentum in March and will get a rematch and chance at redemption against Maryland, which will provide Illinois a marquee opportunity to improve its NCAA Tournament seed line. Though the defense had some issues, the win over Iowa was largely businesslike, something you like to see from a team that will be favored in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Quad 2 win doesn’t do much to change the Illini’s résumé — though it could solidify Illinois on the No. 6 seed line, and it gives Illinois another great opportunity (or opportunities) to leave a lasting impression on the committee. Maryland has been one of the toughest matchups for Illinois since Brad Underwood came to Champaign — Underwood is 3-8 against the Terrapins — and Friday’s quarterfinal will be another great measuring stick for this talented Illini team heading into the Big Dance.
Star of the game: Boswell, Riley and White were great, but Tomislav Ivisic continues to be a matchup problem for Iowa and the big man was the hub of the Illini’s unstoppable offense on Thursday. After putting up 22 points, five assists and four rebounds in the Illini’s win over the Hawkeyes 16 days ago, Ivisic again imposed his will against Iowa with 19 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six assists. Ivisic created space for the offense, knocking down 3 of 5 from three in the first half and continued to take a step forward as a passer from the top of the key, consistently finding teammates on back cuts for easy buckets.
Stats of the game
- Illinois outrebounded Iowa 41-24
- Iowa outscored Illinois 18-4 on the fastbreak
- Iowa scored 17 points off 10 Illini turnovers
- Illinois shot 24-for-30 from the free-throw line, while Iowa shot 5-for-10 from the free-throw line
- Iowa shot 11-for-24 from three, while Illinois shot 12-for-26 from three
- Illinois led for 32:37 of the game
Don’t overlook: Morez Johnson Jr. played his first game since suffering a fractured wrist on Feb. 15 and logged 11 minutes with four points, eight rebounds (!) and two fouls. Johnson gave an immediate spark with an offensive rebound putback on his second offensive possession followed by a layup on his next possession. His minutes were somewhat limited because Iowa plays smaller, but Johnson will likely be a significant piece aginst Maryland’s two-big lineup on Friday.
Also, Kasparas Jakucionis had six of the Illini’s 10 turnovers, his first game of more than two turnovers since his seven-turnover game at Wisconsin on Feb. 18.
What’s next: Illinois will play No. 2 seed Maryland at 5:30 p.m. CT Friday in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal. The winner will move on to play the winner of No. 6 seed Purdue and No. 3 seed Michigan in Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. CT semifinal. Maryland blew out Illinois 91-70 on Jan. 23 in Champaign, though Illinois was without starting center Tomislav Ivisic. Terrapins big men Julian Reese and Derik Queen combined for 52 points (on 22-for-36 shooting) and 23 rebounds. Maryland (24-7, 14-6 Big Ten) won seven of their last eight regular-season games, play strong defense (No. 9 nationally) and arguably have the best starting five in the Big Ten with Queen (15.7 points), Reese (13.2 points) and guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie (14.9 points), Rodney Rice (13.7 points) and Selton Miguel (12.0 points). Though the Terps don’t have a lot of depth.
