The 15th-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes saw their Big Ten Tournament run end Thursday night with a second-round loss vs. seventh-seeded and No. 25 Illinois (21-11, 12-8) in a 106-94 loss from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Offensively, Iowa shot an impressive 39-for-71 from the floor, including 11-for-24 from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Hawkeyes forced 10 Fighting Illini turnovers and scored 17 points off those thefts. Iowa also came away with six steals and four blocks.

Unfortunately for Iowa, the Hawkeyes could never seem to slow the Fighting Illini offense down as they converted on 35-of-65 shots from the field, including 12-for-26 from deep.

In addition to the back-and-forth nature of the matchup, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery drew a double technical foul, which led to an automatic ejection with 13:33 left in the game.

As the Hawkeyes’ conference tournament run ends, here are three thoughts from Iowa’s second-round loss against Illinois.

May be an image of 3 people, people playing basketball and text that says 'BIG ILLINOIS TOWA 2 HNOX ano IT'

Payton Sandfort emptied the tank

In perhaps his final game as a Hawkeye, Payton Sandfort left it all on the court as he erupted for a career-high tying 30 points on 11-for-20 from the field and a Big Ten Tournament single-game record-tying eight made 3-pointers. The senior also registered four rebounds, two assists, and one steal to close out his final game.