Jakucionis makes tiebreaking basket as No. 22 Illinois edges Washington 81-77
Illinois center Tomislav Ivisic (13) reacts with guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (2) while celebrating an 81-77 win against Washington in an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Seattle. Credit: AP/Lindsey Wasson
SEATTLE — Kasparas Jakucionis made a tiebreaking layup with 32 seconds left, and No. 22 Illinois survived a furious comeback bid by Washington to squeak out an 81-77 victory Sunday.
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.
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.
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.
Washington: The Huskies, who 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.
Washington guard DJ Davis (4) makes a basket in front of Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis (32) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Seattle. Illinois won 81-77. Credit: AP/Lindsey Wasson
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. Washington 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.
