Illinois rallies to beat No. 18 Purdue 88-80
Purdue’s Camden Heide battles for a rebound with Illinois’ Ben Humrichous during an NCAA college basketball game Friday, March 7, 2025, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Craig Pessman)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Kasparas Jakucionis hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to put Illinois ahead for good, and the Illini rallied past No. 18 Purdue 88-80 on Friday night.
Illinois (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten) trailed 63-53 with 11:34 to go, but outscored the Boilermakers 13-1 in the final two minutes to win its third in a row after losing three straight.
Will Riley led five Illinois players in double figures with 22 points. Tre White had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Jakucionis had 10 points and seven assists.
Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 29 points for Purdue (21-10, 13-7) and Braden Smith had 18 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, falling just short of the second triple-double in team history.
NO. 16 MEMPHIS 84, SOUTH FLORIDA 68
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — PJ Haggerty and Dain Dainja scored 20 points apiece and No. 16 Memphis won the outright American Athletic Conference regular-season title, taking over in the second half to beat South Florida.
Haggerty added eight rebounds and five assists, Tyrese Hunter had 16 points for the Tigers (26-5, 16-2). Dainja was 10 of 13 from the field as Memphis shot 53%.
Jayden Reid led the Bulls (13-18, 6-12) with 20 points, and CJ Brown had 11. South Florida has lost three straight and six of seven.
The teams went into half time tied at 35 as Reid was the only one from either team to reach double figure, scoring 11 points missing only one of his first five shots. Memphis opened the second half with defensive pressure, that would put the game under control.