CHAMPAIGN — Kasparas Jakucionis scored 24 points, Tomislav Ivišić scored 16 points and Illinois men’s basketball held off UCLA for an 83-78 win on Tuesday to end the Bruins’ seven-game win streak.
Kylan Boswell scored 11 points and reserve Will Riley 10 for the Fighting Illini (17-8, 9-6 Big Ten), who finished shooting 51% (27 of 53).
Tyler Bilodeau scored 25 points for the Bruins (18-7, 9-5), Kobe Johnson scored 14 points and reserve Sebastian Mack had 11.
Ben Humrichous made 1 of 2 foul shots to give the Illini an 81-78 lead with seven seconds left. He missed the second shot, and off the carom, Ivišić deflected the miss which ended up in the hands of Boswell. Forced to foul, the Bruins sent Boswell to the line where he made a pair to secure it.
Jakucionis made an improbable leaping leaner just inside the 3-point arc for a 78-73 Illini advantage with 38 seconds left. Skyy Clark buried a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to reduce the margin to two.
Humrichous made a 3 with 4:51 for a 76-60 Illini lead. The Bruins then went on a 13-0 run to get back within range.
The Bruins entered leading the series 6-4.
The Illini dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday after an 82-73 loss to Rutgers last week.
UCLA travels to face Indiana on Friday. Illinois hosts No. 11 Michigan State on Saturday.
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