Iowa Smothers No. 6 Illinois

Coming off one of its worst shooting performances under Coach Steve Alford, Iowa rebounded Saturday at Iowa City to beat No. 6 Illinois, 63-48, ending the Illini’s 15-game winning streak.

Iowa, 12-4 overall, 1-1 in the Big Ten Conference, did just enough on offense. Jeff Horner had 16 points and helped the Hawkeyes take command in the second half when they scored 40 points on 53% shooting and made 18 of 21 free throws.

But it was the defense that flustered the Illini (15-1, 1-1), who were held under 50 points for the first time since Michigan State did it Feb. 11, 1999.

“I know how good Illinois is, so to beat that team the way we did today, and to defend, we can guard anybody,” said Alford, whose team shot 17% in the second half in a loss to Wisconsin earlier in the week, the worst second-half performance in his seven-year tenure.

In a physical battle between two of the Big Ten’s best defensive teams, Iowa held Illinois to 35% shooting and shut down star point guard Dee Brown, who scored six points on two-of-13 shooting -- one game after he scored a career-high 34 in a victory over No. 7 Michigan State.

The Illini, who had won 54 of their last 55 regular-season games, committed 16 turnovers, trailed the entire second half and shot 19% from three-point range.

“Coach [Bruce Weber] always talks about the basketball gods, how they’ll allow 40 one night and four the next,” said center James Augustine, who led Illinois with 14 points and nine rebounds.

“But we don’t have to put everything on Dee’s shoulders. We needed to have somebody else step up, and that didn’t really happen.”

The Illini have a week off before heading into a stretch of three games in eight days, including a Jan. 17 trip to Indiana.

The No. 16 Hoosiers (10-2, 2-0), meanwhile, handed No. 18 Ohio State its first loss of the season, 81-79, when Marshall Strickland made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left at Bloomington, Ind.

Indiana rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit, its largest of the season, to win its sixth in a row. The Buckeyes (11-1, 1-1) entered Saturday as one of six unbeaten NCAA Division I teams.

No. 2 Connecticut 67, Louisiana State 66 -- Hilton Armstrong scored six points during the last four minutes at Hartford, Conn., as the Huskies (12-1) rallied from 14 points down to beat the Tigers (8-5).

No. 5 Florida 90, Georgia 72 -- The Gators tied a school record with their 14th consecutive victory by beating the Bulldogs (10-4, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) at Athens, Ga. The Gators (14-0, 1-0) already were off to the best start in school history.

No. 9 Louisville 72, Providence 67 -- Freshman Andre McGee scored four of his season-high 12 points in the last 1:22 at Providence, R.I., helping the Cardinals (12-2, 1-1) get past the Friars (7-6, 0-2) for their first Big East Conference victory.

Nebraska 59, No. 12 Oklahoma 58 -- Joe McCray made a three-point basket with 5.2 seconds left at Lincoln, Neb., to give the Cornhuskers (11-3, 1-0 Big 12) their first victory over the Sooners (9-3, 0-1) in eight meetings since 1999.

It was also their first win over a top-25 opponent since beating then-No. 4 Oklahoma State last February.

Miami 84, No. 14 Maryland 70 -- The Hurricanes (9-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored the first 13 points at Coral Gables, Fla., and beat the Terrapins (11-3, 1-1). Miami beat a ranked team for the first time in four tries this season.

No. 15 Texas 89, Colorado 64 -- P.J. Tucker scored 24 points and tied his career high with 15 rebounds at Austin, Texas, as the Longhorns (12-2) improved to 8-0 in Big 12 openers under Coach Rick Barnes. The Buffaloes (10-2, 0-1) had their nine-game winning streak stopped.

No. 20 George Washington 79, Marshall 73 -- Danilo Pinnock helped the Colonials (10-1) win their Conference USA opener at Huntington, W.Va. He scored 13 of his 21 points in the last 4:30 of regulation and in overtime to lift them over the Thundering Herd (6-6).