Iowa Iowa/Illinois Illinois Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Marcus Griffin scored 19 points and reserve forwards Lucas Johnson and Damir Krupalija flirted with double-doubles as Illinois (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 3 AP) beat Iowa 89-63.

The Illini mixed the thrills of Senior Day festivities with a tinge of anger. Illinois was coming off a 63-61 loss at Ohio State two days ago and players wanted revenge for their worst game this season, a 78-62 whipping in Iowa City on Jan. 11.

"You could watch the game and tell how bad we wanted it, how bad we wanted to get them back," said Cory Bradford, who scored 15. "Friday, that's all we talked about: Remember Iowa."

Illinois coach Bill Self fueled that with a film session, highlighting the Hawkeyes outrebounding them 47-27 and winning scuffle after scuffle for loose balls back in January.

"We responded," Bradford said.

The win left Illinois (22-6, 12-3 Big Ten) needing to win its final regular-season game next Sunday at Minnesota, or hope for a loss by No. 5 Michigan State, to earn at least a share of the conference championship. The Spartans beat Penn State on Saturday to remain a half-game behind the Illini.

Illinois finished unbeaten at home for the first time since 1988-89, which was also the last time the Illini reached the Final Four. The Illini have won 18 straight at the Assembly Hall.

While they honored four seniors before the game, it was a pair of junior reserves who shined. Johnson had 16 points and eight rebounds. Krupalija added 13 points and nine rebounds.

"The biggest thing going for us is our bench is ego-less," Self said. "Our bench does not think they should start. You don't always have that, and that's the reason our chemistry is so good."

Iowa (18-9, 7-7) is reeling, winning just two of seven since losing leading scorer Luke Recker with a broken knee on Jan. 27.

The Hawkeyes got 19 points from Dean Oliver and 14 from Recker's replacement, freshman Brody Boyd. But they never made it a contest.

Oliver and Boyd each made 3-pointers early in what looked to become a defenseless shootout. A red-faced Self called timeout with Iowa down 16-14 and demanded some defense. He got it.

Seven players scored during a 17-0 run that put Illinois ahead 33-14 with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. And the Illini did not let up, going ahead 49-22 by halftime.

"Our focus was to shut down everybody," said Griffin, a senior playing his last home game. "Don't let anybody get anything. We weren't going to let Iowa come in here and ruin it for us."

The Illini shut out the Hawkeyes for another five minutes early in the second half. Sergio McClain finished the 14-0 run with a breakaway dunk and a layup to put Illinois up 64-27 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game.

"Two things showed up here tonight -- their defense and our inability to knock down shots and take the right kind of shots," said Iowa coach Steve Alford. "Our inexperience showed."

Illinois stretched the lead to as much as 36 points as Self gave two seniors, Nate Mast and Joe Cross, more minutes than they played all season.

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Iowa Clubhouse

Illinois Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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Marcus Griffin moves baseline for a jam.
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Reggie Evans takes a dish from Dean Oliver and slams it home.
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Damir Krupalija passes to Lucas Johnson, who makes the backdoor cut for a hoop and the foul.
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Frank Williams makes a steal and finishes with a layup.
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