CHICAGO (AP) — Tracy Abrams scored 15 points and Maverick Morgan had 14 points and 10 rebounds as Illinois held off BYU 75-73 on Saturday night at the United Center in the second game of the State Farm Chicago Legends doubleheader.
Jalen Coleman-Lands had 12 points and Michael Finke and Malcolm Hill 10 apiece for the Illini (9-3), who have won five straight.
BYU (7-4) shot just 43 percent from the field after averaging 85.8 points on the strength of its transition game. Eric Mika led BYU with 25 points.
Illinois made 10-of-26 three-pointers.
The Cougars got within one on Colby Leifson's 3 with under two minutes left. Morgan made a jumper and Abrams got a steal and a layup before BYU's L.J. Rose hit a 3 to pull BYU within two with 16.7 seconds left. Hill made two free throws before Rose hit a jumper to get the Cougars back within two. Emery missed a 3 at the buzzer.
Hill shot 3 for 12 from the field after averaging a team-high 18.9 points.
Illinois led by as much as 16 in the first half before BYU went on an 11-0 run and trailed 43-37 at halftime.
The Illini lead the series against BYU 4-2, while Illinois coach John Groce improves to 5-3 at the United Center.
Red-shirt freshman forward Kipper Nichols played one minute in his first game with Illinois. After he originally signed with Tulane, Nichols transferred last December and sat out a year per transfer requirements.
UP NEXT
Illinois will play its annual Braggin' Rights game against Missouri on Wednesday in St. Louis (6 pm CT on ESPNU).
ILLINOIS POSTGAME NOTES
1. The Fighting Illini won their fifth-straight game to improve to 9-3 on the season. It's the first five-game winning streak for Illinois since Dec. 5-23 last season.
2. Illinois improves to 37-14 (.725) all time at the United Center and are 5-3 at the home of the Bulls and Blackhawks under John Groce.
3. During the current five-game winning streak, the Illini are averaging 80.8 points (404) on 49.5 percent shooting (143-289), including 41.1 percent from 3-point range (39-95).
4. The Fighting Illini led by as many as 16 points in the first half (41-25) and did not trail for the final 37:09. The only BYU lead of the game was 5-4 at the 17:25 mark of the first half. Jalen Coleman-Lands responded with a three-pointer 16 seconds later and Illinois led the rest of the way.
5. Illinois' bench played a big role in Saturday's win, outscoring BYU's reserves 28-7. Maverick Morgan (14 points), Michael Finke (10 points), D.J. Williams (2 points) and Jaylon Tate (2 points) all contributed off the bench for the Orange and Blue.
6. Senior point guard Tracy Abrams led the team in scoring for the second straight game with 15 points, his seventh double-digit scoring game of the season. He scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, including a steal and layup with 21 second left to put the Illini up five.
7. Senior center Maverick Morgan posted his second career double-double with 14 points (7-10 FG) and 10 rebounds.
8. Senior Malcolm Hill scored 10 points and has now reached double-figures in each of the last six games and in 10 of 11 games against D1 opponents this season.
9. With 10 points vs. the Cougars, Hill moved up one spot on the UI all-time scoring list. He finished the game with 1,461 career points to move past Dave Scholz (1,459) and into 14th place. Next up is D.J. Richardson, who scored 1,477 points from 2010-13.
10. Redshirt freshman Kipper Nichols made his Fighting Illini debut with one minute of action in the first half. It was the first game Nichols was available to play since he joined the Illini program last December. He sat out the spring and fall semesters to fulfill NCAA transfer requirements.
11. The game was a homecoming for many Illini, with nearly half the UI roster featuring players from Chicagoland – Tracy Abrams, Jaylon Tate, D.J. Williams and Alex Austin (all from Chicago), along with Aaron Jordan (Plainfield), Cameron Liss (Northbrook), Drew Cayce (Libertyville) and Samson Oladimeji (Rolling Meadows).
