Illinois surges late to beat No. 18 Purdue

Kasparas Jakucionis gave the impression to be lining up a drive to the basket as he methodically dribbled by his legs on the right-wing, then all of a sudden the Lithuanian guard stepped again and lofted a 3-pointer. Purdue’s Caleb Furst had his hand squarely in Jakucionis’ face, however the 6-foot-10 ahead could not deter him from hitting the shot that broke a tie with 40 seconds left to place Illinois forward for good because the Illini rallied previous No. 18 Purdue 88-80 on Friday night time.

Kasparas Jakučionis drills a stepback 3-pointer, serving to Illinois defeat No. 18 Purdue

Kasparas Jakučionis drills a stepback 3-pointer, helping Illinois defeat No. 18 Purdue

Jakucionis had been struggling to that time, having shot 2-for-9 earlier than his clutch 3, however freshman Will Riley and junior Tre White stepped up. Riley had 22 factors, whereas White added 20 and grabbed 9 rebounds. Jakucionis did have a team-high seven assists.

He discovered Ben Humrichous for a 3-pointer that put Illinois up 67-66 with 7:39 remaining and White adopted that with one other triple to additional the Illini’s lead. The Boilermakers answered with an 11-2 run, taking a 77-72 lead with 2:52 to go. White made a layup after which Humrichous hit one other 3 and a free-throw, which tied the sport, earlier than Jakucionis discovered the underside of the online.

Illinois (20-11, 12-8 Huge Ten) completed the sport on a 16-3 run to win its third in a row after shedding three straight. Purdue (21-10, 13-7) had an opportunity to earn the ultimate double-bye for the Huge Ten Event subsequent week, however was unable to carry onto its lead.

Ahead Trey Kaufman-Renn scored six factors from the 6:17-minute mark to the two:18 mark as Purdue surged forward. His 29 factors, although, weren’t sufficient for the Boilermakers to tug out the victory. Kaufman-Renn scored 29 factors for the second time within the final three video games. He is averaged 22.1 factors during the last 10 video games, and hit a floater from the free-throw line within the first half for his 1,000th profession level.

Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn sinks floater to attain his 1,000th profession level

Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn sinks floater to score his 1,000th career point

Guard Braden Smith had 18 factors, 12 assists and 9 rebounds, falling simply wanting the second triple-double in staff historical past.

Takeaways

Illinois: The Illini joined Gonzaga, Houston and San Diego State as the one groups within the nation to have at the least 20 regular-season wins in every of the final six years.

Purdue: Smith is among the many favorites for Huge Ten Participant of the 12 months. Kaufman-Renn, the staff’s main scorer, additionally deserves consideration as a result of he is the Boilermakers’ solely inside menace.

Key second

Riley made a 3-pointer on the first-half buzzer to finish a private seven-point run and get Illinois inside 42-40.

Key stat

The groups mixed for 32 3-pointers of their earlier sport, with the Boilermakers making 18. However Purdue went inside towards Illinois this time, outscoring the Illini 44-28 within the paint whereas going 5 of 18 from behind the arc. Illinois was 11 of 30 on 3s.