It was intense from the start.
The State Farm Center crowd heartily booed when Iowa took the court. The Orange Krush held up posters mocking Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery's sideline temper. And late in the first half, Illinois' Da'Monte Williams and Iowa's Connor McCaffery had to be separated as they stood nose to nose and jawed, drawing double technicals.
Fueling the Big Ten rivalry was the fact a double bye in this week's Big Ten Tournament was at stake Sunday.
The game matched the atmosphere.
No. 23 Illinois beat No. 18 Iowa 78-76 in a matchup that fittingly came down to the final seconds. With the victory, the Illini earned the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and will open play in Friday's second quarterfinal at about 1:30 p.m.
Illinois led by 16 in the second half, but Iowa cut it to 76-74 with 57 seconds left on a Luka Garza layup. After Ayo Dosunmu hit a jumper on the other end, the Hawkeyes again went down low to Garza for a dunk that made it 78-76 with 18 seconds left.
Dosunmu missed the front end of a one-and-one. Iowa missed a layup but retained possession under its basket with 1.6 seconds remaining after officials ruled Kofi Cockburn tapped the ball out of bounds.
On the inbound play, Cockburn _ who struggled in the previous game against Iowa and Garza _ blocked Garza's shot as time expired.
Garza sat on the court in disappointment as Cockburn walked stoically and victoriously to the Illini bench with both arms in the air.
Garza looked every bit the favorite for Big Ten player of the year with 28 points and eight rebounds.
Cockburn, meanwhile, scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half. He scored only six points in the earlier meeting in Iowa City.
Dosunmu added to his legacy with another display of late-game brilliance, hitting key shots down the stretch to separate the Illini. He finished with 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
It wasn't his highest-scoring game in an Illini uniform, but it was one of his most impressive performances.
Illinois went on a 25-4 run starting early in the second half to seize control of the game. Dosunmu gestured for the crowd to reach decibels unheard for at least a decade before heading to a timeout huddle with a 60-48 lead after a laser of a layup with 13:10 to play.
Cockburn's layup with 11:36 to go made it 64-48.
But the Hawkeyes battled back with a 26-10 run of their own to make it a two-point game.
During the first meeting Feb. 2, animosity had boiled over in the handshake line between coaches after Illinois' 72-65 loss. This time, the teams exited without incident.
They could meet again in Friday's quarterfinals if the Hawkeyes defeat the Minnesota-Northwestern winner in a second-round game Thursday.
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