CHAMPAIGN — Illinois’ John Groce has heard many differing opinions about what he should do with point guard Te’Jon Lucas.

The ones screamed at him during the game weren’t why he decided to start the freshman against Iowa. Lucas’ impact and control of the offense paid off in Illinois’ 76-64 victory Wednesday night.

A few moments before tipoff, while TV was preparing to start the game, Lucas focused on remembering what the first play was, not worrying about his first start.

“I’m glad I was able to start,” Lucas said. “I’m just going to keep coming, trying to start each game.”

Lucas finished the game with 6 points and 6 assists while Michael Finke scored 17 points off the bench and led Illinois (13-8, 3-5 Big Ten).

Illinois got off to a quick 10-0 start in the first few minutes of the game and never relinquished the lead.

Offense was not a problem in a game where Illinois looked dominant, shooting 55 percent from the field in the first half, which is good since the Illini struggled shooting in the second half. Illinois finished shooting 45 percent, including 9-19 from beyond the arc.

But Wednesday is just one win. Groce compared the rest of Illinois’ season to climbing a ladder. “At the end of the game it’s just one game,” he said. “We have two days to prepare for another one Saturday.”

Nicholas Baer scored led the way for Iowa (11-10, 3-5) with 12 points and Peter Jok added 10.

Ohio State 78, Minnesota 72:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Marc Loving and Trevor Thompson each scored 19 points to lift Ohio State. Thompson’s total was a career high, and he also led the Buckeyes with 10 rebounds. Loving bounced back from a disappointing performance Sunday, and Ohio State dealt the Gophers their third straight loss.

Ohio State (13-8, 3-5 Big Ten) played one of its better games of its season against an evenly matched team, shooting 50 percent and making 23 of 30 free throws, including all 9 in the first half.

Nate Mason paced the Gophers (15-4, 3-5) with 21 points, and Akeem Springs has 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Georgia Tech 78, Florida State 56:

ATLANTA — Josh Okogie scored 35 points, Ben Lammers added 18 and Georgia Tech pulled its second home upset of a Top 10 opponent with a victory over No. 6 Florida State. Georgia Tech (12-8, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 41-15 at halftime and 70-47 with 6:52 remaining on Lammers’ dunk.

Florida State never got closer than 18 points in the second half. Few signs pointed to a meltdown for the Seminoles (18-3, 6-2). They were tied for first place in the ACC and had gone 5-1 in their last six games, all against ranked opponents.

Illinois State 71, Indiana State 66:

NORMAL, Ill. — Deontae Hawkins and Phil Fayne each had 19 points to lead Illinois State to its 10th straight win. ISU (17-4, 9-0 Missouri Valley) pulled away with the final 5 points of the game at the foul line. Indiana State fell to 7-14, 1-8.

Baylor 65, Texas Tech 61:

WACO, Texas — Johnathan Motley scored 25 points and No. 5 Baylor held on to beat Texas Tech for the Bears’ 13th straight home victory.

A week after getting a career-high 32 points against Texas, Motley was 15 of 16 on free throws as the Bears (19-1, 7-1 Big 12) pulled even with second-ranked Kansas atop the Big 12 with a 26-9 advantage at the free-throw line.Justin Gray scored 12 points for the Texas Tech (14-6, 3-5).

Loyola 70, Bradley 50:

Donte Ingram scored 24 points with six 3-pointers and host Loyola used a big second-half run to defeat Bradley.

Milton Doyle added 14 points with two 3s for the Ramblers (15-7, 5-4 Missouri Valley), who shot 11 of 21 from behind the arc (52.4 percent) and 27 of 53 from the floor (50.9 percent).

Donte Thomas scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Bradley (8-14, 3-6), which has lost four straight.

Belmont 77, Eastern Illinois 64:

CHARLESTON, Ill. — Evan Bradds scored 23 points for the second straight game and Belmont (14-4, 8-0) pulled away from Eastern Illinois (9-12, 1-7) in the second half to take an Ohio Valley Conference road victory.

Demetrius McReynolds led Eastern Illinois with 20 points.

South Dakota 62, Western Illinois 55:

VERMILLION, S.D. — Matt Mooney scored 16 points and added 6 rebounds to help lead South Dakota (13-9, 5-3 Summit League) past Western Illinois (6-13, 3-5).

Dalan Ancrum led Western Illinois with 13 points and 8 rebounds.