TUCSON, Ariz. – Matthis Besard and Jackson Buchanan combined to shoot 9-under during Saturday's final round, sparking the No. 4-ranked Fighting Illini to the team's lowest score of  the weekend en route to a tie for fourth at the National Invitational Tournament at OMNI Tucson National Golf Club.

The Illini entered the day in fourth and shot a closing 278 (-10) to momentarily take over the team lead during Saturday's finale. But late stumbles over the final two holes brought the team back to the pack for a solid top-5 finish against a field that featured nine top-30 programs. When it was all settled the Illini closed with a three-round tally of 843 (-21), to notch their seventh consecutive top-five finish to open the 2022-23 season.

"I'm happy with the way we played most of the day, but I'm bothered by the way that we closed the tournament," head coach Mike Small said. "It's part of the game and we understand that, but when you put yourselves in position the way that we did, to take the lead with a couple of holes to go, and to not finish it off is something we want to improve on. We pride ourselves on hitting our standard, and holding it to the end of the tournament. We came out today and played as solid as anybody in the field until we had a meltdown the last couple of holes. So there's positives to take away, but there are some things we've go to work through."

Besard jumped 12 spots from 21^st to ninth, and Buchanan rose 20 from a tie for 36^th to a share of 16^th with their impressive rounds on Saturday. Overall, the Illini closed the weekend with four golfers inside the top-16, as the fifth-year senior duo of Adrien Dumont de Chassart (T13^th) and Tommy Kuhl (T16^th) joined Besard and Buchanan among the weekend's top performers.

"It was good to see those two (Besard and Buchanan) play well today," Small added. "Tommy and Adrien have been carrying us most of the season, and for those two to 'bring it' the last round was a huge positive. They've done it before, and we know that they can do it, so it was good to see them do it today."

Besard, who joined the Illini last offseason after four years at Southern Illinois, was the only Illinois golfer to post a bogey-free score on Saturday. His 5-under 67 marked his best single-round as an Illini, and he was the Illini's top finisher for the first time this season with a 7-under 209. Buchanan was one stroke off Besard's pace with a 4-under 68 for his fourth round of the season in the 60s, and finished three strokes behind his teammate, overall, with a 54-hole tally of 212 (-4).  

Kuhl fired a final round score of 70 (-2) to match Buchanan's tournament score, while Dumont de Chassart finished one stroke ahead of Kuhl and Buchanan in a tie for 13^th at 211 (-5) after a final round of 73 (+1).

Junior Piercen Hunt, the fifth member of the Illini lineup tied for 55^th with a 219 (+3) on the weekend. Individually, Ryan Voois (4-over 220) tied for 59^th, while Nico Lang and Jerry Ji tied for 79^th at 9-over.

As a team, the Illini finished just behind host and 18^th-ranked Arizona (-24) who claimed the team title. No. 9 Pepperdine (-23) and No. 3 Arizona State (-22) finished second and third, respectively, while the Illini tied No. 21 Oklahoma State at 21-under.

UP NEXT
The Illini return to action in early April, traveling to Augusta, Ga., for the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational. The event is hosted by Augusta University at Forest Hills Golf Club – just miles from Augusta National Golf Club – and takes place April 1-2, concluding just before the Masters tees off April 6. 

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