Illinois Basketball Muscles Up But Falls Short in Loss to No. Tennessee

The Illini had upset on their minds in leading for much of the game, but the Vols got the play they needed at the buzzer

Dec 14, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Kasparas Jakucionis (32) and Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) reach for a loose ball during the first half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

There is heartbreak, and then there is the sort of athletic agony Illinois experienced Saturday in Champaign.

The unranked Illini hosted heavyweight Tennessee, matching the No. 1-ranked Vols blow for blow before faltering in the final moments as Jordan Gainey hit a layup at the buzzer to lift UT to a 66-64 win.

Gainey scored 23 points for Tennessee (10-0) to offset the late absences of offensive catalysts Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier, and overcome a gutsy – if imperfect – 22-point performance by Illini freshman Kasparas Jakucionis.

AND. AGAIN.

2H 11:21 | #Illini 49, Tennessee 44 https://t.co/cUP1DO441g

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) December 15, 2024

When Jakucionis had a chance to give Illinois (7-3) the lead with five seconds remaining, he missed the first of two free throws, knotting the score at 64. He made up for it with an excellent contest when Gainey took the inbounds pass out of bounds and barreled the length of the court to stretch for an exceptionally difficult full-speed right-handed layup from the left side, but the ball slid past Jakucionis' hand and plunked in off the backboard and rim to preserve the Vols' undefeated record and take all the air out of a sold-out State Farm Center.

In the Vols, the Illini finally met their physical match. Illinois lost the rebounding battle – 42-37 – for the first time all season and struggled mightily to generate offense, finishing with a grand total of 15 field goals (on 29.4 percent shooting) and brutally misfiring from 3-point range (4-for-23, 17.4 percent).

Yet Illinois hung tight with Tennessee throughout the game, holding a lead against the Vols longer than their previous nine opponents combined and standing toe-to-toe with them in as brutish a battle as you'll witness in modern NCAA basketball.

Only a week ago, the Illini were answering questions about their toughness after dropping an overtime game to a physical Northwestern team that nonetheless isn't expected to be a contender in a Big Ten conference that appears down this season. On Saturday, the young Illini muscled up and showed a national audience their rapid growth.

The first half resembled a 20-minute rugby scrum, as the teams combined for 45 free-throw attempts and both Illinois' Brad Underwood and Tennessee's Rick Barnes had to dig deep into their bench to keep players out of foul trouble. With Zeigler off the floor with two fouls over the final 1:29 of the first half, Gainey picked up the slack and chipped away with three free throws to turn a one-point Illinois edge into a 31-30 Vols lead at the half,

Then Zeigler picked up his third and fourth in quick succession coming out of the half, heading to the bench at 18:13 and missing nearly the next 14 minutes of action. Within a minute, Lanier () picked up his fifth foul to exit the gam. Zeigler lasted a bit longer but followed Lanier to the sideline with four second remaining. Had the Illini managed to force overtime, they would have been facing UT without its two best players – and with several other Volunteers in trouble with fouls.

Instead, Jakucionis, Illinois' only reliable source of offense on Saturday, came up just short in creating something – anything – against a defense braced to stop him specifically.

Tre White added 11 points, and Kylan Boswell and Will Riley both had 10 (though on a combined 3-for-17 from the field). Tomislav Ivisic was a force on the boards (12 rebounds – including four on the offensive end). but was held to just four points on 1-for-5 shooting.

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