SEATTLE — Kasparas Jakucionis made a tiebreaking layup with 32 seconds left, and No. 22 Illinois survived a furious comeback bid by Washington to squeak out an 81-77 victory Sunday.
The Illini (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten), playing at Washington for the first time since the 1952 Final Four, had a 17-point lead, but the Huskies tied it at 75 on Luis Kortright’s layup with 47 seconds left. Jakucionis then scored and the Illini put it away at the free-throw line.
Jakucionis had 18 points and six assists, while Tre White pitched in 17 points and Kylan Boswell had 14.
DJ Davis led the Huskies (10-5, 1-3) with 31 points, finishing 7 for 14 beyond the arc.
Illinois held Great Osobor, Washington’s leading scorer, scoreless in the first half. He finished with nine points.
Takeaways
Illinois: The Illini have won eight of their last 10 with the two losses coming by a combined six points — one in overtime at Northwestern and the other to No. 1 Tennessee.
Washington: The Huskies, who came in shooting 45% from the field — second-worst in the Big Ten — shot just 31.4% to dig their hole and 56.7% in the second half to nearly climb out of it.
Key moment
Kortright’s tying layup capped an 8-0 run for the Huskies before Jakucionis answered.
Key stat
Illinois turned the ball over nine times in the first half but cut the giveaways to four in the second.
Up next
Illinois will return to the State Farm Center on Wednesday to host Penn State. Washington will travel to traditional Big Ten country for the first time this season with a two-game Michigan swing, beginning Thursday at No. 18 Michigan State.
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