LOS ANGELES — Donovan Dent hit a layup at the buzzer in overtime, lifting UCLA over No. 10 Illinois 95-94 on Saturday night after the Bruins rallied from a 23-point first-half deficit.
Fans stormed the court at Pauley Pavilion in celebration. It was UCLA’s biggest comeback since rallying from 19 points down in a 90-83 victory over Oregon on Feb. 23, 2019, at home.
The Illini were favored by 7.5 points, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Eric Dailey Jr. led six Bruins in double figures with 20 points. Tyler Bilodeau had 18 points and Trent Perry 17.
Freshman Keaton Wagler grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 4.9 seconds remaining to put Illinois in front 94-93 before Dent capped UCLA’s comeback with a coast-to-coast drive through the Illini defense.
Neither team led by more than two points in the extra session.
Wagler had 19 points — making all eight of his free throws — eight rebounds and six assists. Tomislav Ivišić added 16 points, Ben Humrichous 15, Kylan Boswell 13 and Zvonimir Ivišić 11 for the Illini (22-6, 13-4 Big Ten) whose last three losses have come in overtime.
The Bruins (18-9, 10-6) improved to 15-1 at home.
Making their first visit to Pauley Pavilion since 1997, the Illini were coming off a 36-point victory at USC, their largest in a Big Ten road game in 80 years, and had won 14 of 16. Their last three losses have come in overtime.
UCLA erased an 11-point deficit early in the second half with three 3-pointers and took its first lead of the game at 60-58 on Xavier Booker’s basket.
From there, the game was tied six times, and the teams traded one-point leads.
Bilodeau hit a 3-pointer and Dailey made one of two free throws to keep UCLA ahead 78-73.
The Illini outscored the Bruins 13-8 down the stretch, with Wagler making two free throws to tie it at 86. Dent missed a potential winning 3-pointer with 1 second left in regulation.
The Illini outrebounded the Bruins 43-27, including 20-8 on the offensive glass.
Ahead by three, the Illini ran off 20 straight points — hitting five 3-pointers — to take their largest lead at 33-10. UCLA missed 11 shots during its six-minute scoring drought.
The Bruins outscored Illinois 33-17 to end the first half trailing 50-43. Booker had 10 points, Perry eight and Skyy Clark five in the spurt.
The victory capped an otherwise lackluster week for the Bruins. They were coming off road losses at Michigan (30 points) and Michigan State (23 points).
Up next
- Illinois: vs. No. 1 Michigan on Friday.
- UCLA: vs. crosstown rival USC on Tuesday.
