CHAMPAIGN — Tomislav Ivišić scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half and Illinois men’s basketball recovered from its big loss to No. 3 Duke by beating Iowa 81-61 on Tuesday.
Kylan Boswell and Will Riley each scored 15 points and Tre White had 14 for the Fighting Illini (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten), which shot 50.8% (32 for 63).
The Illini ended a three-game losing streak against teams that were all ranked, including No. 11 Michigan State and No. 11 Wisconsin. The average margin of defeat was 26 points including the 110-67 loss to the Blue Devils in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Brock Harding scored 16 points and Josh Dix 11 for the Hawkeyes (15-13, 6-11).
The Illini built a 19-6 lead and went to intermission up 37-30 in a first half in which they never trailed. They started the second half in nearly identical fashion as the first by outscoring the Hawkeyes 19-8 in the first five-and-a-half minutes and led 56-38.
The Hawkeyes travel to Northwestern to face the Wildcats on Friday.
The Illini take to the road to face No. 15 Michigan on Sunday.
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