Kasparas jakucionis systematically dribbled his right wing legs, making it appear as if he was lined up a drive to the basket. Purdue’s Caleb First had his hands right in Jaccionis’s face, but the 6-foot-10 front couldn’t discourage him from hitting a tie-in shot with 40 seconds left as Illinois repeated his past 188-80 on Friday night.
kasparasjakučionis drills a step-by-step 3-pointer to help Illinois defeat Purdue No. 18
Jakucionis was struggling at that point. He shot 9-2 before his clutch 3, but the freshman Riley and Junior Tre White stepped up. Riley scored 22 points, while White added 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Jakucionis had team high 7 assists.
He found Ben Hamrichos for a 3-pointer with Illinois 67-66 with 7:39 left, and followed it with another triple to promote Illini’s lead. The boilermaker answered 11-2 runs, taking a 77-72 lead at 2:52. White did a layup and then hit a free throw three and a free throw that tied the game together before Jaccionis found the bottom of the net.
Illinois (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten) finished the game with a 16-3 run and won third place after three straight wins. Purdue (21-10, 13-7) had the opportunity to win a final double-by in the Big Ten tournament next week, but was unable to take the lead.
Forward Trey Kaufman Runn scored six points from the 6:17 mark to the 2:18 mark as Purdue surged forward. However, his 29 points were not enough for the boilermaker to draw out victory. Kaufman-Renn scored 29 points for the second time in the last three games. He averaged 22.1 points in his last 10 games and hit a floater from the first half free throw line on his 1,000th career point.
Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn sinks floaters to earn his 1,000th career point
Guard Braden Smith has 18 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, slightly below the second triple-double in team history.
Take home
Illinois: Illini has joined Gonzaga, Houston and San Diego states as the only team in the country to win at least 20 regular seasons in the last six years.
Purdue: Smith is one of Big Ten Player of the Year’s favorites. Kaufman-Renn, the team’s leading scorer, is also worth considering as he is the only threat to the boiler maker.
Important moments
Riley made a 3-pointer on the first half buzzer and finished a 7-point run for the individual, earning Illinois within 42-40.
Key Statistics
The team combined 32 3-pointers in previous games, and the boilermaker made 18. However, Purdue played against Illinois this time, breaking the Illini 44-28 with paint, becoming five out of 18 from behind the arc. Illinois was 11 out of 30 out of 30.
next
Both teams will begin playing the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.
Report by Associated Press
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