Illini Live Blog: FINAL - No. 23 Illinois 78, No. 18 Iowa 76

No. 23 Illinois tries to earn the final double bye in the Big Ten tournament by hosting Iowa in the regular season finale.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Welcome to Senior Day at the State Farm Center where Illinois (20-10, 12-7 in Big Ten Conference) will host Iowa in the regular season . 

I'm LOOKING LIVE...at the State Farm Center floor in Champaign, Ill., as we're about 20 minutes from the opening tip. 

NOTE: Please join us as we live-blog and discuss the Illini exhibition game here in our weekly Illini Gameday Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it's easy — by simply going to the top right of the redesigned site and click the follow button. 

You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it's free. That's right...IT'S FREE. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your reactions and observations with our staff and fellow members of the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated community as we keep you up to date of the game in real-time. 

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Game 31: No. 18 Iowa at No. 23 Illinois  

Date/Time/Place: Sunday, March 8, 2020: 6 p.m. CST, State Farm Center, Champaign, Ill.  

Capacity: 15,544  

Records: Iowa 20-10, 11-8 in Big Ten; 23-10, 10-10 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19. Illinois 20-10, 12-7 in Big Ten; 12-21, 7-13 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19.  

Line: Illinois by 3.5  

Series Notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 85-76 but Iowa holds a current five-game winning streak. However, Illinois leads the series in Champaign 62-17. Iowa has won three of the last four meetings at the State Farm Center, including its last visit on Jan. 11, 2018 (104-87 in overtime).  

TV: BTN - Kevin Kugler (PBP), Shon Morris (analyst), Olivia Dekker (Sideline)  

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Deon Thomas (analyst) - The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, Sirius/XM 84 and at FightingIllini.com.  

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NOTE: Uniform Update - Illinois seems to be going with the white traditional uniforms. Iowa will go with the all black road uniforms. 

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NOTE: Officials for today's game are Terry Wymer, Rob Kueneman, Earl Walton. 

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NOTE: Illinois likely going with a different Senior Day lineup today: Tyler Underwood, Andres Feliz, Kipper Nichols, Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn.  

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Things Illinois can accomplish with a win today:  

• No. 4 seed in 2020 Big Ten tournament and the double-bye into the quarterfinals 

• First 13+ win Big Ten season since 2005 

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NOTE: Illinois assistant coach Chin Coleman passes on the pre-game handshake with the Iowa coaching staff. Still some bad blood in this one.  

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 MEDIA TIMEOUT - 13:38 left in 1st - No. 18 Iowa 20, No. 23 Illinois 13 - Kofi Cockburn has been a monster in the paint with  nine points and two offensive rebounds. Illini have been terrible on defense as Hawkeyes consistently getting open looks for Garza and its perimeter shooters. 

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 10:23 left in 1st - No. 18 Iowa 29, No. 23 Illinois 22 - Illini look completely out of sorts defensively and won't be able to keep up with the Big Ten's best offensive team that averages 76 points per game in league play. Illini shooting 60 percent and still down 7. 

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Halftime: No. 23 Illinois 41, No. 18 Iowa 41 - #Illini manage to shoot 51.6% from the field to make up for some awful defense in the first 8 minutes of play. Hawkeyes getting 13 points from Luka Garza.

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