Luka Garza scores 25 points as No. 18 Iowa beats No. 19 Illinois 72-65

IOWA CITY, IOWA -- Luka Garza is 6-11 and can hit three-pointers.

That foiled Illinois' defensive plan against the Iowa junior center.

Garza, the Big Ten's leading scorer, bounced back from a slow start to score 25 points and No. 18 Iowa clamped down in the final four minutes to beat No. 19 Illinois 72-65 on Sunday.

Garza, who added 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season, didn't have a point in the first 15 minutes. He wound up making four 3-pointers on nine attempts, both career highs, and shot 9 of 16 overall.

The plan for the Illini against Garza was to be physical.

"Just hit him," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "He's 290 pounds. Hit him on every shot."

But Garza figured during the pregame scouting that Illinois 7-foot center Kofi Cockburn would stay inside against him. Cockburn, he felt, would be too strong for an all-day fight under the basket.

So Garza, who came into the game with 22 3-pointers on 59 attempts, stepped outside and hit some key shots.

Garza's first basket came with 4:53 left in the first half. He followed that with a 3-pointer 81 seconds later.

"When he got going at the end of the first half, he got going because he was getting offensive rebounds because we didn't hit him," Underwood said.

Garza had 11 points in a 13-2 run that erased an early eight-point lead from the Illini.

"I thought we did a better job of getting (the ball) to him," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "They were sitting in there on top of him. They made a decision to limit his touches.

"You know what? He can shoot 18 if he wants, as far as I'm concerned," McCaffery said.

"I know I can make shots," Garza said. "I felt like I could hit all night."

Illinois (16-6, 8-3), which had won seven in a row, led 62-61 with 4:03 to play. But the Hawkeyes (16-6, 7-4) then shut out the Illini until Ayo Dosunmu hit a 3 with four seconds left.

"I thought, middle part of the second half, defensively we weren't where we needed to be," McCaffery said. "I thought we were substantially better after that. Coming down the stretch, to beat a team of this caliber, you have to execute. And execution is at both ends of the floor."

Iowa made five of its last seven shots. Joe Wieskamp and CJ Fredrick each had 18 points for the Hawkeyes.