No. 1 Tennessee survived an upset bid from Illinois after guard Jordan Gainey made a layup at the buzzer to give his team a 66-64 win. Illinois guard Kasparas Jakučionis made his second free-throw attempt to tie the game at 64 with less than six seconds left before Gainey raced down the floor to end the game in dramatic fashion.
Gainey recorded a game-high 23 points to help Tennessee improve to 10-0. Gainey had to play without fellow backcourt mates Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler down the stretch, as both players fouled out late. Lanier scored 17 points in 26 minutes, while Zeigler logged only 25 minutes.
Tennessee led only 10:17 of the 40 total minutes of action in a game that featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes throughout. Illinois and Tennessee combined to shoot 45 free throws during the first 20 minutes of play, and the game finished with 64 total attempts.
Jakučionis finished with a team-high 22 points for his fifth consecutive game with at least 20 points. Ten of his 22 points came at the free throw line, as the star freshman finished 5 of 15 from the field.
Tennessee (10-0) has a date with Western Carolina next on Tuesday at home. Illinois (7-3) faces Missouri on Dec. 22 in its next matchup.
