#5 Hawkeyes outclass Illini 77-65

Illinois Fighting Illini (2004 - 2013)

CHAMPAIGN—Peter Jok scored 23 points and Jarrod Uthoff added 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 5 Iowa past Illinois 77-65 on Sunday.Jok took over early in the second half, scoring seven of the first 10 points for Hawkeyes (19-4, 10-1 Big Ten) and led them to a 48-36 lead with 16:48 to play.Iowa would push the lead to as many as 20 points midway through the half.Adam Woodbury added a double-double for the Hawkeyes with 10 points and 14 rebounds.Iowa outrebounded the Illini 43-32. Illinois (11-13, 3-8) has been outrebounded in 10 of its 11 conference games.Jalen Coleman-Lands led Illinois with 17 points, going 5 of 11 from 3-point range.Jok’s dominant spell to open the second half was the difference in a game that Illinois had been finding a way to stay in.And his confidence was visibly high.Just under 5 minutes into the second half, he fired a low-trajectory 3-point attempt that somehow touched nothing but net. Jok flashed a big grin as he jogged back on defense and the Hawkeyes were up 53-38.When Jok wasn’t scoring, he was providing.Moments later he missed a jumper and the ball bounced away from the rim with Illinois’ Malcolm Hill close behind it, scrambling for the rebound.But Jok, laying on his back at the top of the key, found himself with the ball. Looking right, he saw Uthoff alone behind the 3-point line and fed him the ball.Uthoff buried the shot and the Hawkeyes went up 56-38.Iowa looked like the Big Ten title contender it is, and Illinois – which has settled into the back of the conference pack – did not.Even when the Hawkeyes were off, it didn’t matter.Dom Uhl took a long 3-point attempt with 11:24 to play that hit hard off the front of the rim, bounced up and fell through.He shrugged and smiled, and Iowa’s lead reached 65-45.Illinois closed within 73-63 with 2:03 to play on a layup by Michael Finke. But the Illini could get no closer.Hill finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.Finke returned to the lineup after missing the Rutgers game with a bruised knee he suffered against Wisconsin. He finished with five points and four rebounds….Illinois plays at Northwestern on Saturday.