The Fighting Illini got 26 points from Kofi Cockburn and 18 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds from Ayo Dosunmu as they won again on Saturday, 82-71 over the Hawkeyes from Iowa.

Cockburn added eight rebounds but lost in the stat sheet is the defensive work he did on Luka Garza. Iowa's all-time leading scorer and two-time national player of the year ended up with 21 points and 12 rebounds, but his impact on the game was limited by Cockburn and the Illinois defense The Illini forced 12 Iowa turnovers, three more than the season average for one of the best ball-handling teams in the country. Illinois now improves to 21-1 this season when allowing 75 points or less.

Illinois (22-6) threatened to run away with this one early, but Iowa's hot shooting from outside the arc kept it close. Joe Wieskamp and Jordan Bohannon each with a trio of treys to keep the Hawkeyes within striking distance at the half, 45-37. Illinois built its lead to 14 in the 2nd half but couldn't put Iowa (21-8) away until the final minutes.

The Illini have won 13 of 14 games now including 4 in a row against top 10 opponents. They will get another chance on Sunday when they take on 9th ranked Ohio State in the Big Ten title game at 2:30PM CST.

Here’s a recap.

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