National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Iowa 81, Illinois 74
When: 7:30 PM ET, Saturday, February 1, 2014
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials: # Bill Ek, # John Gaffney, # Kelly Pfeifer
Attendance: 16618

No. 12 Iowa 81, Illinois 74: Roy Devyn Marble scored all 17 of his points in the second half and Gabriel Olaseni collected 15 points and 12 rebounds off the bench as the visiting Hawkeyes withstood an upset bid by the Illini.

Aaron White added 14 points and six boards for Iowa (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten), which snapped an 11-game losing streak at Illinois dating back to 1999. Mike Gesell chipped in eight points to help the Hawkeyes bounce back from Tuesday’s 71-69 overtime loss to No. 6 Michigan State.

Joseph Bertrand scored 20 points and Rayvonte Rice added 13 points and nine rebounds for Illinois (13-9, 2-7), which trailed by as many as 21 in the first half before mounting an impressive rally. The Illini lost their seventh straight despite Tracy Abrams’ 11 points and Jon Ekey’s nine points and five rebounds.

Iowa appeared headed for a blowout win early before Illinois ended the first half on a 23-6 run and cut the deficit to 40-36 at the break. The Illini scored seven straight points and led 66-61 with nine minutes to play, but Iowa tied the game at 70 on Marble’s dunk with 4:24 remaining.

Bertrand scored to pull Illinois within 73-72 with 2:40 left, but Marble answered with five quick points as the Hawkeyes improved to 5-0 following a loss this season. Marble, who missed all four of his shots in the first half, finished 5-of-12 from the field.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Illini fell to 9-2 this season and 23-4 under coach John Croce when reaching the 70-point mark. … Iowa, which outrebounded the Illini 41-28, took over sole possession of third place in the Big Ten. … Rice, who scored 20 points in Illinois’ 56-46 loss at Indiana on Sunday, missed eight of his 12 shots.
Top Game Performances
 
Iowa   Illinois
Roy Devyn Marble 17 Scoring Joseph Bertrand 20
Anthony Clemmons 3 Assists Kendrick Nunn 4
Gabriel Olaseni 12 Rebounds Rayvonte Rice 9
Gabriel Olaseni 9 Free Throws Made Joseph Bertrand 5
Roy Devyn Marble 3 Steals Rayvonte Rice 2
Gabriel Olaseni 2 Blocks Nnanna Egwu 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Iowa 81 46.4 5-16 24-30 13 39 5 10 15
Illinois 74 44.6 6-15 18-23 12 26 6 6 12