SEATTLE – No. 22 Illinois completed its West Coast road trip with a hard-fought 81-77 win over Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena on Sunday afternoon.
After the Huskies battled back to tie the game at 75 with under one minute remaining, Kasparas Jakucionis made a driving layup with just over 30 seconds remaining to help the Fighting Illini improve to 3-1 in Big Ten action this season.
Jakucionis finished with a team-high 18 points, including four points in the final minute of play. Going 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line, Jakucionis also amassed six assists, five rebounds, and a steal.
Tre White tallied 11 of his 17 points in the first half for his second-straight game in double figures. White also corralled seven rebounds and made a steal.
After going scoreless in the first half, Kylan Boswell tallied 14 points in the second half while going 5-for-9 from the field across the final 20 minutes. Three of his four rebounds came on the offensive glass, and he collected one assist.
Tomislav Ivisic registered nine points and nine rebounds, and he dished out two assists. Ben Humrichous amassed seven points, six rebounds, two steals, one assist, and one block.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn recorded eight points off the bench, six of which came during a stretch of two-and-a-half minutes in the first half.
The Illini set the tone early, opening the game with a 10-2 run within the first four-and-a-half minutes of play, a stretch that featured four points apiece for Jakucionis and White. The Huskies cut their deficit in half just over three minutes later, but Ivisic's first 3-pointer of the afternoon gave the visitors a 13-6 edge.
Just over 60 seconds later, the Orange and Blue used a 14-2 scoring stretch to extend their advantage to double figures for the first time. 10 of those 14 points came from the Illini bench, including six points from Gibbs-Lawhorn, and that four-and-a-half-minute run allowed Illinois' lead to grow to 27-10.
The Washington offense began finding its groove, though, with the hosts capitalizing on efficient 3-point shooting to piece together an 18-6 run and reduce their deficit down to single digits with just over two minutes remaining in the first half.
The Illini closed the frame on a positive note, with back-to-back 3-pointers from Jakucionis fueling a 9-3 run to give Illinois a 42-31 edge after 20 minutes of action. Jakucionis and White both scored in double figures across the first period of play, while the Orange and Blue shot 50% from the field heading into halftime.
The sides traded baskets across the opening few minutes of the second half, though the Illini's lead remained in double digits via five points from Kylan Boswell and four points from White.
Washington used a 7-2 run to reduce its deficit to eight, but Gibbs-Lawhorn quieted the crowd with a tough contested layup to move Illinois' advantage up to 58-48 halfway through the final period of play.
After the Orange and Blue's edge grew to 12, the Huskies used a 9-1 run to cut their deficit to four, but the Illini countered with a 6-2 run of their own to double the team's advantage, 67-59, with just under six minutes remaining.
The hosts would not go away. An 8-0 run from the Huskies tied the game at 75 with under a minute remaining, but Jakucionis' driving layup with 32.7 seconds remaining sent the Illini right back in front.
With Washington looking to tie or take the lead, White stripped the ball loose on a driving layup attempt, and after a battle for the loose ball, a tie-up saw the Illini take possession with under 15 seconds to go. Jakucionis' two free throws with 12.6 seconds left pushed Illinois' edge up to 79-75, though the Huskies made a layup with 6.7 seconds to go to cut that advantage in half. Boswell's two free throws re-established Illinois' four-point lead, 81-77, and sealed the Illini's second road win of the week.
Now 3-1 in Big Ten play and winners of four-straight games, No. 22 Illinois returns to State Farm Center for a two-game homestand, which begins Wednesday night against Penn State. The contest between the Fighting Illini and the Nittany Lions is slated for 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network, with tickets still available at FightingIllini.com.
HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes:
- Kasparas Jakucionis scored a team-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds and six assists.
- Reached double-figures scoring for the ninth-straight game and his team-leading 12th game overall.
- Recorded his fifth game this season with at least 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
- Tied with Rutgers' Dylan Harper for the second-most such games this season among Big Ten players.
- Purdue's Braden Smith leads all conference players with six such performances.
- Has at least four assists in four-straight games.
- Tre White scored 17 points and grabbed seven boards.
- Reached double-figures scoring for the seventh time this season, and the fifth time in his last six games.
- Averaging 15.5 points during that six-game span.
- Has grabbed at least seven boards in three of his last four games.
- Kylan Boswell scored 14 points and added four rebounds and an assist.
- Poured in double figures for the sixth-straight game and for the ninth time overall this season.
- Scored all 14 of his points in the second half.
- Averaging 15.3 points during that six-game span.
- Ben Humrichous scored seven points and secured six rebounds.
- His six rebounds matched a season high, set on Nov. 13 vs. Oakland.
- Tomislav Ivisic tallied nine points and nine rebounds.
- Posted a game-high rebounding total, leading the Illini on the boards for the ninth time this season.
- Morez Johnson Jr. came off the bench to score four points while adding five rebounds.
- Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn came off the bench to score eight points, going 4-for-7 from the floor.
Team Notes:
- Starting lineup: Kylan Boswell, Ben Humrichous, Tomislav Ivisic, Kasparas Jakucionis, Tre White
- The win gives Illinois a season-best four-game win streak.
- Illinois improves to 72-32 (.692) in the Big Ten since 2019-20, the best mark in the conference over that span.
- The Illini also improve upon their B1G-leading road record since 2019-20, moving to 31-22 (.585) away from home in league play over the last six seasons.
- Illinois improves to 2-0 against this season's Big Ten newcomers, with both victories coming on the road.
- The Illini out-rebounded the Huskies 43-30, the fourth-straight game the Orange and Blue have won the battle on the boards.
- Illinois has out-rebounded its last three opponents by at least +12 and have also possessed a double-digit rebounding margin in nine games this season.
- The Illini held a 14-8 advantage on the offensive glass, scoring 14 second chance points.
- Illinois out-scored Washington in the paint 52-30.
- The 52 points in the paint is a new season-high mark and the +22 margin is the third time this season the Illini posted a margin of at least +20 in paint points.
- Illinois led for a total of 37:50 contest and did not trail at any point.
