Illinois Knocks Iowa Out of Big Ten Lead, 71-59

James Augustine was so nervous that he airballed his first free throw. Dee Brown made two of 12 shots.

It wasn’t exactly the way Illinois’ two senior stars wanted to play in their final home game. But their teammates came to the rescue and the eighth-ranked Illini defeated No. 20 Iowa, 71-59, Saturday.

“They both had special careers here, so we wanted to send them out with a bang on their last night at Assembly Hall,” said Rich McBride, who scored 15 points to lead the Illini (23-5, 9-5) and keep them in the hunt for a third consecutive Big Ten championship.

Iowa (20-8, 9-5) lost its second in a row for the first time in conference play and fell out of first place for the first time since Jan. 30. The Hawkeyes fell into a second-place tie with Illinois, one game behind Ohio State, which defeated Michigan, 64-54, earlier Saturday.

“We’ve been in first place for almost six weeks. That’s a heck of a stretch,” Iowa Coach Steve Alford said. “We’re 20-8 and 9-5 in the best conference in the country and we have two big home games left.”

Illinois Coach Bruce Weber said it was fitting that Brown and Augustine went out with a win.

“They’re two pretty special players,” he said. “If we wouldn’t have found a way to win, it would have been a bad ending to a special career for those guys here in Assembly Hall.”

It was the 111th victory for Brown and Augustine, breaking the school record they shared with Nick Smith, who set it last season.

No. 13 Ohio State 64, Michigan 54 -- The first time the Buckeyes (21-4, 10-4) beat the Wolverines (18-8, 8-7) this season, it was because of their superlative outside shooting. In the rematch at Columbus, Ohio, it came down to muscle, defense and the bench.

“I’ve been beating the drum for defense all season,” Coach Thad Matta said.

“That is something that as we go down the stretch we need to be able to hang our hat on.”

Terence Dials had his fifth consecutive double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds to help Ohio State stay atop the Big Ten.

Daniel Horton -- who had 39 points against Illinois in his last game -- finished with 12 and Courtney Sims had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan, which dropped its fourth consecutive road game. In the earlier meeting, Sims had 26 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

“It was really a struggle for us offensively,” Michigan Coach Tommy Amaker said.