Illinois only led for 25 seconds and didn’t gain the lead until the final minute of regulation, but the No. 4 seed Illini survived a scare from Chattanooga 54–53 on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The Illini were thoroughly outplayed for the majority of the contest, trailing by double-digits and looking lost offensively for most of the night. But once it came down to crunch time, the talented Big Ten roster made the crucial plays to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Trailing 51–50 with less than a minute to play, Illinois star big man Kofi Cockburn hit a short floater in the lane to give the Illini their first lead of the night with 46 seconds to play. After Cockburn committed a foul on the defensive end of the floor shortly thereafter, Mocs guard Malachi Smith knocked down a pair of free throws to regain the lead.
Now trailing 53–52 with 30 seconds to play, the Illini needed their best offensive possession of the night. With 12 seconds remaining, guard Alfonso Plummer was fouled, and he calmly approached the charity stripe and knocked down two of the most important free throws of his career.
Trailing by one, the Mocs drove down the floor and Smith’s shot in the lane was blocked by Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins to save the day for Illini, who somehow survived the upset to advance to Sunday’s round of 32.
They will face the winner of Friday night’s tilt between No. 5 Houston and No. 12 UAB.
