INDIANAPOLIS — Illinois coach Brad Underwood and his players knew they might be in for an offensive showdown when they matched up with Iowa on Thursday night in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Illini and Hawkeyes entered as the top-two scoring offenses in the conference, and the Illini were prepared for the breakneck scoring pace that ensued at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Five Illinois players scored in double figures to fuel a 106-94 victory over No. 15 seed Iowa. Illinois, the No. 7 seed, will play No. 2 seed Maryland in a quarterfinal at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Illinois’ 106 points were the second-highest total in Big Ten Tournament history, behind Iowa’s 112 against Northwestern in 2022.
“We work on that in practice, getting up and down,” Illinois guard Kylan Boswell said. “Each and every day (Underwood) is having us push the ball in transition and try to get into our offense quickly. We want teams to do that because that’s where we feel like we’re at our best when we can push into transition and get into our offense quickly. That doesn’t faze us.”
Boswell scored a career-high 24 points, hitting four 3-pointers, and added seven assists. The showing continued a four-game trend of elevated play from the junior that corresponds with the Illini’s four-game winning streak.
Boswell, who had previous postseason experience during his two seasons at Arizona, said he knew he needed to step up after Illinois’ last loss, a 110-67 beating by Duke on Feb. 22.
“After that game, after we got our butt kicked, for me I felt like I was just thinking too much when I was out there,” Boswell said. “And for our team to win and be at our best, I need to help lead us and help be at my best personally. I just had a little mental switch, put all the work I needed to in the gym, and it’s just been clicking on the court so far.”
Boswell might have had more points, but he ceded technical foul shots to star guard Kasparas Jakučionis in the second half.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was ejected with 13 minutes, 33 seconds to play after getting back-to-back technical fouls when he said he argued about the foul discrepancy. Originally Boswell was going to shoot the free throws, but he told Jakučionis to “go make all four of them” instead. Jakučionis did for a 73-60 lead, and the Illini didn’t look back.
“During the timeout, I could tell KJ was thinking too much,” Boswell said. “He was frustrated. When you get to the line, you get four free throws and see the ball go in the rim. It helps any player get a rhythm.”
Boswell wasn’t the only one at his best Thursday night.
While Jakučionis scored only 10 points, Tre White had 22 points, and Will Riley had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Tomislav Ivišić added 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
The 7-foot-1 Ivišić sparked the Illini with two 3-pointers in the first three minutes.
“He got us going for sure,” Riley said. “Whenever Tomi’s hitting 3s, it opens the floor for all of us guards because the bigs can’t really drop. So it was good.”
After Illinois went into halftime up 49-45, the Illini and Hawkeyes traded baskets separated by seconds in the second half. A Riley 3-pointer, followed by a Josh Dix fast break eight seconds later. A Jakučionis 3-pointer, followed by a Payton Sandfort 3 nine seconds later.
The Illini shot 54% from the field while Iowa shot 55%. But Illinois hit 24 free throws compared with Iowa’s five and also outrebounded the Hawkeyes 41-24.
Sandfort, a senior guard, led Iowa with 30 points, went 8-for-13 from 3-point range and grew emotional as he left the floor. Underwood expressed appreciation for what Sandfort did in his career.
“So much respect for Payton,” Underwood said. “He stayed four years. I love seeing guys cry when it’s over. That’s invested. That’s committed. That’s dedicated. That’s love for his university. That’s love for his coaching staff. That young man had just an unbelievable career. He had a terrific game today.”
Now the Illini turn their attention to Maryland, which beat Illinois 91-70 on Jan. 23 behind 27 points from Julian Reese and 25 points from Derik Queen.
Illinois is a healthier team than it was at that juncture. The Illini even welcomed back freshman center Morez Johnson Jr. from a broken wrist Thursday. Johnson played 11:35, totaling four points and eight rebounds.
“Obviously Queen and JuJu (Reese) are very, very good,” Underwood said. “So, yeah, it will be a different challenge (than Iowa), but our health is the big thing (that’s different). We got in foul trouble in that first game. We had some pretty small guys trying to guard those guys in post-ups.”
Big Ten Tournament
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Wednesday’s games
- (13) Northwestern 72, (12) Minnesota 64
- (15) Iowa 77, (10) Ohio State 70
- (14) USC 97, (11) Rutgers 89
Thursday’s games
- (8) Oregon 72, (9) Indiana 59
- (5) Wisconsin 70, (13) Northwestern 63
- (7) Illinois 106, (15) Iowa 94
- (6) Purdue 76, (14) USC 71
Friday’s quarterfinals
- (1) Michigan State vs. (8) Oregon, 11 a.m., BTN
- (4) UCLA vs. (5) Wisconsin, 1:30 p.m., BTN
- (2) Maryland vs. (7) Illinois, 5:30 p.m., BTN
- (3) Michigan vs. (6) Purdue, 8 p.m., BTN
Saturday’s semifinals
- Noon and 2:30 p.m., CBS-2
Sunday’s final
- 2:30 p.m., CBS-2
