No. 18 Illinois suffered another bad loss in Big Ten play with an 80-74 overtime defeat to host Nebraska. The Illini (14-7, 6-5 Big Ten) were 10-for-42 from three-point range, including 0-for-8 in overtime.
Kasparas Jakucionis had 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists for Illinois, which lost for the first time in 10 meetings with Nebraska. Wes Riley made four three-pointers while scoring 16 points and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 15.
Brice Williams scored eight of his team-high 27 points in overtime to lead the Cornhuskers (13-8, 3-7), who never trailed while knocking off a third ranked opponent in the same season for the first time since 2013-14.
Williams made three straight shots and a pair of free throws to put the Huskers up by eight points in overtime. He broke a 72-all tie with a shot from the wing, muscled in for an inside basket and then hit a baseline jumper.
Takeaways
Illinois: Tomislav Ivisic, the 7-foot-1 center and the team's second-leading scorer, missed his third straight game with mononucleosis. The Illini have lost four of their last six.
Nebraska: The Huskers rediscovered their identity as a gritty and defense-oriented team, holding the Illini to 28% shooting in the first half and 35.6% for the game.
Key moment
Gibbs-Lawhorn’s three-pointer with 47.2 seconds left in regulation pulled Illinois into a tie for the first time since the game was scoreless. He came into the game shooting 29% on 3s.
Key stat
The Huskers, who matched their season low with six turnovers, scored 17 points off Illinois' 17 turnovers.
