Illinois recorded win No. 2 against Iowa this season, defeating the Hawkeyes, 70-66, on Feb. 18.

Iowa had several chances to regain the lead late but couldn’t capitalize and lost its third-straight game.

“It’s really frustrating,” Peter Jok said. “We wanted to win. We’ve been looking forward to this game since they beat us – we didn’t play well at their house last time. It didn’t go the way we wanted it to.”

The Illini led by 3 with under 20 seconds to play, but Nicholas Baer’s 3-pointer clanked off the rim.

Down by 1 late in the game, Jordan Bohannon missed a pair of free throws and had a lay-up attempt blocked on the next possession.

Overall, this game was decided by runs. Neither team could consistently create a flow in the game.

“I thought we were quick-shotted a times,” head coach Fran McCaffery said. “Maybe should have moved it a little better.”

Jok led the Hawkeyes in scoring, putting up 16 points. He took only 8 shots but grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.

Down low, Tyler Cook went to work in the paint, scoring 14 points, but he got into foul trouble in the second half.

“[Illinois] is a big, physical team,” Cook said. “We knew it was going to be a fight.”

Illinois’ Malcolm Hill led both teams in scoring. The senior scored 21 points.

Illinois started the second half strong.

The Illini went on a 9-0 run capped off with back-to-back 3-pointers within 25 seconds of each other.

Iowa broke another Illinois run with a little more than 8 minutes left in the game.

Cordell Pemsl hit a pair of free throws, and Jok stole the ball and while in mid-air, threw it ahead to Baer, who slammed it home.

Illinois called a time-out immediately, then, out of the break, committed its second turnover on consecutive possessions – Iowa capitalized on a fast break tip-in by Jok to lead 52-50.

Iowa’s 8-0 run brought the sell-out crowd to its feet, finally grabbing ahold of momentum in the second half.

The first half wasn’t kind to either squad.

Illinois shot 39 percent from the field and did not attempt a free throw. The Illini’s best work came on the offensive glass; 4 first-half offensive rebounds early kept Iowa in check.

Iowa outrebounded Illinois, though, in the first half.

The Hawkeyes’ full-court press left Illinois in transition to put up quick shots, where it took 11 3-pointers in the first half (only connecting on 3, however).

A Baer 3-pointer on the Hawkeyes’ final possession added momentum – Iowa hadn’t scored in more than 2 minutes before then.

Baer’s 3-pointer with 32 seconds to go in the half was only Iowa’s sixth attempt from long range.

Turnovers piled up as the half wore on; Iowa and Illinois combined for 21 turnovers in the half. By game’s end, the teams had committed 32 turnovers.