Jakucionis’ layup helps No. 22 Illinois squeak by UW Huskies

Kasparas Jakucionis made a tiebreaking layup with 32 seconds left, and No. 22 Illinois survived a furious comeback bid by the UW Huskies to squeak out an 81-77 victory Sunday

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jan 5, 2025, 4:08 PM Updated: 4:09 pm

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The UW Huskies' DJ Davis and Illinois' Kasparas Jukucionis fight for the ball on Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

(AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

SEATTLE (AP) — Kasparas Jakucionis made a tiebreaking layup with 32 seconds left, and No. 22 Illinois survived a furious comeback bid by the UW Huskies to squeak out an 81-77 victory Sunday.

Illinois Fighting Illini 81, UW Huskies 77: Box score

The Fighting Illini (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten), playing at UW for the first time since the 1952 Final Four, had a 17-point lead but the Huskies tied it at 75 on Luis Kortright’s layup with 47 seconds left. Jakucionis then scored and the Illini put it away at the free throw line.

Rose to the occasion.

2H 0:32 | Illini 77, Washington 75
📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/To9rZvAKYs

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) January 5, 2025

Jakucionis had 18 points and six assists, while Tre White pitched in 17 points and Kylan Boswell had 14.

DJ Davis led the Huskies (10-5, 1-3) with 31 points, finishing 7 for 14 from beyond the arc.

He's on fire! 🔥

DJ Davis drains his career-high 7th 3-pointer of the day.#B1GMBBall on @BigTenNetwork 📺 pic.twitter.com/FmjgOIow8p

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 5, 2025

Illinois held Great Osobor, Washington’s leading scorer, scoreless in the first half. He finished with nine points.

Takeaways

Illinois: The Illini have now won eight of their past 10 games, with the two losses coming by a combined six points — one in overtime and the other to No. 1 Tennessee.

UW Huskies: Washington, which came into the day shooting 45% from the field — second-worst in the Big Ten — shot just 31.4% to dig their hole, and 56.7% in the second half to nearly climb out of it.

Key moment

Kortright’s game-tying layup capped an 8-0 run for the Huskies, before Jakucionis answered.

Key stat

Illinois turned the ball over nine times in the first half, but cut the giveaways down to four in the second.

Up next

Illinois will return to State Farm Center on Wednesday to host Penn State. The UW Huskies will travel to traditional Big Ten country for the first time this season with a two-game swing to Michigan, opening with a matchup at No. 18 Michigan State on Thursday.

UW Huskies football officially hires Ryan Walters as DC