By Tyler Devine

The Iowa men’s basketball team does not often get outscored in the paint.

But that is exactly what happened Saturday in the Hawkeyes’ 82-71 loss to Illinois in Iowa’s first appearance in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament since 2006.

Illinois led for all but 2:08 and outscored Iowa 52-24 in the paint.

Iowa struggled to defend Illinois big man Kofi Cockburn, who scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the first half.

“It’s always tough,” senior center Luka Garza said. “Obviously, he’s a tremendous big man. He’s doing a really good job. I’m getting it on both ends. We’re both being physical on each other so we’re both wearing on each other. It’s what I’m going to have to deal with. I’ve been dealing with it in the Big Ten for a while now. I’ve played against a lot of great bigs. I think I’ve got to do a better job on both ends dealing with that physicality.”

As usual, Garza was Iowa’s leading scorer.

The Washington, D.C., native finished with 21 points on 8-of-21 shooting, 13 of which came in the second half.

Iowa also struggled from 3-point range for the second consecutive game, shooting 8-of-24 from beyond the arc and making only two 3-pointers in the second half.

Iowa undoubtedly missed the inside presence of Garza’s backup, sophomore forward Jack Nunge.

The 6-foot-11 Nunge, who was a major post presence off the bench for Iowa, was ruled out for the season after suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee against Michigan on Feb. 25.

Coach Fran McCaffery put freshman center Josh Ogundele in the game late in the second half for one defensive possession in which he was able to stop Cockburn, but Ogundele did not play in the second half.

“I think you would really like to have another big,” McCaffery said. “We put Josh in there. He was fine for the minute he was in there. (Cockburn) is such a handful, and we were so worried about Luka getting in foul trouble because we knew we needed Luka in the game. That does change things.”

Illinois started the second half on an 8-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game 53-39, but quickly committed three turnovers that led to two Iowa baskets to make the score 53-43 at the under-16 timeout.

Iowa trailed by double digits for much of the second half, but a Jordan Bohannon 3-pointer cut the Illini lead to 74-69 with 3:42 left, but Bohannon committed a turnover on the other end that led to an Illinois basket.

Iowa committed an uncharacteristic 12 turnovers, eight of which came during the first half.

“This team plays really intense man-to-man,” McCaffery said. “I thought we moved it well in the second half. I thought we got good shot opportunities. It’s a different kind of game than when you play Wisconsin. Both teams are good, but they’re different and I thought we adjusted much better in the second half.”

As is typical for a game between Iowa and Illinois, the play was physical and chippy at times.

After a game last season, Illinois star guard Ayo Dosunmu said that the Illini and Hawkeyes don’t like each other.

During the second half, Illinois’ Da’Monte Williams was called for a flagrant foul on junior Iowa guard Connor McCaffery in which Williams’ arm struck McCaffery in the neck.

Connor McCaffery and Williams got into an altercation last season that led to a double technical foul.

Much like the rest of the game, Illinois controlled the first half and led 45-37 at halftime despite shooting 2-of-9 from 3-point range.

Iowa committed an uncharacteristic eight turnovers in the first half that led to 13 Illinois points but was able to keep the game from getting out of hand by making 6-of-13 3-point baskets.

Trailing 43-37 in the final seconds of the first half, Iowa had a chance to cut Illinois’ lead, but C.J. Fredrick’s entry pass intended for Luka Garza was intercepted that led to a controversial foul on Jordan Bohannon on the fast break.