CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) —Illinois' John Groce has heard many differing opinions about what he should do with point guard Te'Jon Lucas. The ones screamed at him during the game weren't why he decided to start the freshman against Iowa, his impact and control of the offense paid off in Illinois' 76-64 win Wednesday night.
A few moments before tipoff, while TV was preparing to start the game, Lucas focused on remembering what the first play was, not worrying about his first start.
"I'm glad I was able to start," Lucas said. "I'm just going to keep coming, trying to start each game."
Lucas finished the game with six points and six assists while Michael Finke scored 17 points off the bench and led Illinois (13-8, 3-5 Big Ten).
Illinois got off to a quick 10-0 start in the first few minutes of the game and never relinquished the lead.
Offense was not a problem in a game where Illinois looked dominant, shooting 55 percent from the field in the first half, which is good since the Illini struggled shooting in the second half. Illinois finished shooting 45 percent, including 9-19 from beyond the arc.
The offense thrived with good ball movement thanks in large part to Lucas' leadership — Illinois finished with 18 assists, the second-most this season.
Maverick Morgan had 12 points and seven rebounds.
But Wednesday is just one win. Groce compared the rest of Illinois' season to climbing a ladder.
"At the end of the game it's just one game," Groce said. "We have two days to prepare for another one Saturday."
Nicholas Baer scored led the way for Iowa (11-10, 3-5) with 12 points and Peter Jok added 10.
The Hawkeyes got off to a slow start, shooting under 20 percent from the field for the first eight minutes of the game and 37 shooting percent for the half.
"It felt about the same," Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey said.
Jok battling a back injury.
"We all have to look ourselves in the mirror individually," he said. "We have to figure something out. We have 10 games left."
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini travel to State College, Pa., to face Penn State on Saturday (3:30 pm CT on BTN).
ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES
Team Notes
- The Fighting Illini snapped three-game skid to improve to 13-8 overall and 3-5 in Big Ten play with the 76-64 win over Iowa.
- Illinois leads the all-time series vs. the Hawkeyes 84-71 and hold a 62-16 edge in Champaign.
- The Illini had their sixth-different starting lineup of season with Lucas, Coleman-Lands, Black, Hill and Morgan.
- Illinois hit six first-half three-pointers, the most since the Illini hit seven in the first half against Winthrop.
- The Illini dished out 18 assists on 26 made baskets, equaling their third-highest assist total of the season.
- Iowa shot a season-low 21.7-percent from beyond the arc and 43.8-percent from the free throw line.
- Illinois shot 47.4-percent (9-19) from three-point range, the third-highest three-point field goal percentage of the season.
- The Illini defense held Iowa's Peter Jok, the Big Ten's leading scorer, to 10 points, his second lowest point total of the season (4 points at Northwestern).
Individual Notes
- Freshman Te'Jon Lucas made his first-career start, contributing 6 points and 6 rebounds in a career-high 27 minutes.
- Redshirt-sophomore Michael Finke led the Illini with 17 points, his third time leading Illinois in scoring and sixth of his career.
- Michael Finke is 16-of-22 shooting (.727) in the last five games, including 9-of-13 (.692) from three-point range.
- Senior Malcolm Hill became the 10th player in Illini history to reach 1,600 career points. Hill had 11 points on the night – his 15th straight game in double-figures – and now has 1,609 career points.
