Kasparas Jakucionis scored 24 points and Tomislav Ivisic scored 16 points and Illinois held off UCLA for an 83-78 win over UCLA on Tuesday night at State Farm Center in Champaign to end the Bruins’ seven-game win streak.
Kylan Boswell scored 11 points and reserve Will Riley 10 for the Illini (17-8, 9-6 Big Ten), who finished shooting 51% (27 of 53).
Tyler Bilodeau scored 25 points for the Bruins (18-7, 9-5), Kobe Johnson scored 14 points and reserve Sebastian Mack 11.
Ben Humrichous made 1 of 2 foul shots to give Illinois an 81-78 lead with seven seconds left. He missed the second shot, and off the carom, Ivisic deflected the miss which ended up in the hands of Boswell. Forced to foul, UCLA sent Boswell to the line where he made a pair to secure it.
Jakucionis made an improbable leaping leaner just inside the 3-point arc for a 78-73 Illinois advantage with 38 seconds left. Skyy Clark buried a three-pointer 10 seconds later to reduce the margin to two.
Humrichous made a 3 with 4:51 for a 76-60 Illinois lead. The Bruins then went on a 13-0 run to get back within range.
The Bruins entered leading the series 6-4.
UCLA travels to face Indiana on Friday. The Illini host 11th-ranked Michigan State on Saturday.