By IlliniGuys Staff

February 11, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -Kasparas Jakucionis scored a team-high 24 points as Illinois snapped UCLA's seven-game win streak with an 83-78 victory on Kofi Cockburn's night at State Farm Center.

The former two-time All-American center saw his Illini jersey raised to the rafters Tuesday night.

Then, he and the rest of the sold-out crowd of 15,544 almost witnessed a disaster.

Illinois built a 16-point lead with 4:51 left and appeared on their way to victory, when the Bruins caught a spark and hit ten consecutive field goals to close with 78-76 before the Illini were able to hold them off and secure the win.

The European duo of Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic combined to take the game over midway through the second half. Together they scored 17 consecutive points to open the game up for Illinois (17-8, 9-6).

Jakucionis extended his own team record for most 20-point games as a freshman with his tenth to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Ivisic finished with 16 points and seven boards. Kylan Boswell added 11 points and Will Riley added 10. The reigning Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week has been coming off the bench to bail out an anemic Illini offense in the past few weeks and put up his fifth straight double-digit effort and his 14th such game of the season. Riley also saw at least 30 minutes of action for the third straight game as Tre White continues to battle illness.

Tyler Bilodeau drained seven three-pointers on his way to a game-high 25 points for UCLA (18-7, 9-5), which allowed more than 80 points for just the third time this season.

Illinois now readies for a rematch with Michigan State Saturday night when All-American and Minnesota Timberwolves' first-round draft pick Terrence Shannon Jr. will have his jersey raised to the rafters. That's a 7pm CST tipoff and can be seen on FOX.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage.