Saturday's Illinois-Duke matchup in New York City was meant to be a priming of the pump, a get-ready non-conference interlude that would allow both teams to get a feel for an NCAA Tournament environment and competition.

Tomislav Ivisic scored a game-high 22 points and Illinois pulled away from Iowa early in the second half to post an 81-61 Big Ten win Tuesday in Champaign, Ill.

Illinois desperately had to have this one. And they got it. In what all of a sudden turned into a season-defining home spot to stop the bleeding of their three consecutive ugly losses, the Illini momentarily silenced the alarms with an important 81-61 victory over Iowa on Tuesday night at State Farm Center.