Illinois Basketball Turns Back Washington in a Heart-Stopping Win

Illinois overcame a rough shooting performance with key plays in the final moments Sunday

Illinois guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (2) rises up to challenge the shot of a Washington player in the Illini's 77-75 win over the Huskies on Sunday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle. / University of Illinois athletics

Call it a letdown. Call it a disappointing shooting performance.

Or call it just another day in the Big Ten.

Days after No. 22 Illinois ran No. 9 Oregon out of its own building in a record-setting performance in Eugene, the Illini needed every bit of grit and luck they could muster to turn back Washington 81-77 on Sunday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

The trouble for the Illini (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) was pretty simple: The Huskies (10-5, 1-3) were hitting their threes, while the visitors seemingly couldn't buy one.

Washington guard DJ Davis hit seven threes, finished with a career-high 31 points and cut Illinois' lead to two on a driving windmill reverse layup with six seconds remaining after the Huskies had been down by as many as 17 in the first half.

It was a stunning turnaround made possible by an ill-timed gaffe by the Illini, when miscommunication between swingman Tre White and guard Kasparas Jakucionis sent a simple inbounds pass into the backcourt, where Washington's Luis Kortright scooped it up and layed it in to tie the game at 75.

But Jakucionis came back on the next possession to do what he does best – create – and flipped in a left-handed layup to give the Illini back the lead, 77-75.

Rose to the occasion.

2H 0:32 | Illini 77, Washington 75
📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/To9rZvAKYs

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) January 5, 2025

He then hit two clutch free throws ahead of Davis' dazzling layup. With the Huskies forced to foul, Illini guard Kylan Boswell sank another pair of all-important foul shots to finally put the game out of reach.

Jakucionis led Illinois with 18 points, adding six assist and five rebounds, while White turned in another strong all-around performance (17 points on 7-for-13 shooting and seven rebounds).

The game's not-so-sweet irony for the Illini is that the Huskies nearly won the contest by clearly beating them at their own game. Davis' shooting bonanza changed the dynamic of the matchup, but it also represented a stark change from Washington's usual approach. The Huskies, who averaged 20.0 three-point attempts through their first 14 games, let fly 26 threes – including 16 before halftime.

It may have been more necessity than strategy as Illinois put the wraps on Huskies leading scorer Great Osobor. An interior force, Osobor (14.6 scoring average entering the game) was held scoreless over the first 20 minutes by a combination of excellent individual effort and timely help on the part of the Illini. He finished with nine points on 2-for-8 shooting.

After finally heating up in the past two games, Illinois' inconsistent three-point shooting iced over again in Seattle. The Illini hit a meager 5-for-26 on threes (19.2 percent), and the concern is that many of the misses came on open looks – though Washington contested on perimeter shots better than most Illinois opponents.

Yet, as usual, the Illini were able to rely on their superior rebounding (43-30 margin) and rim protection to deny the Huskies extra possessions and force them to make tough shots or earn their points at the line.

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