No. 14 Illinois men’s basketball blows late 10-point lead, beats Nebraska 87-84 in overtime

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Marcus Domask and Justin Harmon each made two free throws and Terrance Shannon Jr. had a steal in the final 25 seconds of overtime to help No. 14 Illinois beat Nebraska 87-84 on Sunday.

The Illini led 72-62 with 3:29 left in regulation, but Nebraska went in front on Rienk Mast’s jumper with 9 seconds left. Domask then split a pair of free throws with 3 seconds remaining, tying it at 73.

Coleman Hawkins led Illinois (17-5, 8-3 Big Ten) with 20 points. Domask had 19, and Ty Rodgers finished with eight points and 14 rebounds.

Shannon scored 18 points in his fifth game back after sitting out six games under a university-imposed suspension due to his arrest related to a rape charge in Kansas.

Keisei Tominaga scored 31 points for the Cornhuskers (16-7, 6-6 Big Ten), who were coming off an overtime win over No. 6 Wisconsin in a game in which they trailed by 19 points in the first half. Mast scored 19 points against the Illini.

Nebraska led Illinois 36-34 at halftime, but the Illini made their first six shots in the second half to take a 47-40 lead.
The victory vaulted Illinois into a tie for second place in the Big Ten with Wisconsin. The Badgers lost 75-69 on Sunday to No. 2 Purdue, which leads the conference at 10-2.

Big picture

Nebraska: The Huskers came into the game leading the Big Ten with an average of 9.5 3-pointers per game. They made 12 on Sunday, including five by Tominaga. They are 9-4 when making at least 10 3s.

Illinois: The Illini completed a grueling stretch of seven games in 19 days when they beat Ohio State on Wednesday. Illinois went 5-2 over those seven games, losing at home to Maryland and on the road in overtime to Northwestern. Illinois’ schedule eases considerably this month as the Illini make a bid for the Big Ten regular-season title. Starting with Sunday’s game against Nebraska, the Illini will play seven games during February.

Up next

Nebraska: At Northwestern on Wednesday.

Illinois: At Michigan State on Saturday.