Iowa beats Illinois 64-61 in Big Ten Tournament opener

INDIANAPOLIS - Iowa won its first Big Ten Tournament game in six years and ended a series-record seven-game losing streak to Illinois with a 64-61 win in the tournament opener at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Iowa (17-15) plays top seed Michigan State at 11 a.m. Friday.

Iowa nearly blew a seven-point lead with less than 4 minutes left but Matt Gatens hit four consecutive free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

Gatens led Iowa with 20 points.

Iowa trailed 44-37 but rebounded with a 20-6 run to take a 57-50 lead with 9:17 left in the game. Iowa did not make another free throw the rest of the game.

First-half recap:

Illinois guard D.J. Richardson drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give ninth-seeded Illinois a 31-27 halftime lead over eighth-seeded Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament today.

Illinois shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and were paced by sophomore center Meyers Leonard, who scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Richardson added nine points for the Illini (17-14).

Iowa (16-15) guard Matt Gatens scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. He also had three rebounds.

Illinois outrebounded Iowa 18-12 but had seven turnovers to Iowa's four. There were three lead changes and four ties in the first half. There were only seven fouls called in the first half, four of which were on Iowa.

The winner plays top seed Michigan State at 11 a.m. Friday.