Illini have no answer for red-hot Hawkeyes
Freshman Joe Wieskamp matched a career high with 24 points and No. 23 Iowa shot 68 percent from the field in routing Illinois 95-71 on Sunday in Iowa City for its fifth consecutive victory.
Isaiah Moss scored a season-high 21 points and Luka Garza added 20 for the Hawkeyes (16-3, 5-3 Big Ten), who shot 34-for-50 from the field to set a record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena. They hit 12 of their first 14 three-point attempts and 15 overall to blow past the young but talented Illini (5-13, 1-6).
“The only way you can explain it is to empower your guys to shoot it without hesitation,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said.
Iowa shot 68.4 percent in the first half to jump ahead 39-24. Moss, Jordan Bohannon and Wieskamp then buried consecutive threes to open the second half, and Moss capped that blistering run with a contested three near the Iowa bench to make it a 68-45 game.
Wieskamp and Moss combined to go 10for-10 on threes during that stretch.
“That’s being taken out to the woodshed,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.
The Hawkeyes finished 15-for-21 (71.4 percent) beyond the arc, falling short of the school record (75 percent).
Ayo Dosunmu scored 15 points for Illinois. The Illini forced 15 turnovers, but they also let the Hawkeyes get tons of easy looks on threes. Trent Frazier was 4-for-18 shooting.
“[That’s] a team I wouldn’t want to play in the postseason because of their inside-out mentality and their ability to score in transition,” Underwood said.
Marquette 79, Providence 68
Sam Hauser scored 25 points and Markus Howard added 24 points and a career-high nine rebounds to lift the No. 15 Golden Eagles (16-3, 5-1 Big East) past the Friars (11-7, 1-4).
Dwyane Wade, who starred at Marquette during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, was honored at halftime.
“I think my younger self would be proud of me,” Wade said.
Boston College 87, Florida State 82
Ky Bowman scored 37 points to lead the Eagles (10-7, 1-4 ACC) to the upset against the No. 11 Seminoles (13-5, 1-4), who have lost three consecutive games.