Oregon Beats Illinois 77-70
llinois guard Rayvonte Rice (24) reacts after he fouled Oregon guard Joseph Young (3) during the second half of Saturday's game vs. Oregon. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Dillon Brooks scored 24 points and Oregon beat Illinois 77-70 at the United Center Saturday. The Illini fall to 7-3 on the season.
Rayvonte Rice scored 29 points for the Illini, who led by as many as 13 and fell to 35-13 all-time at the United Center.
Brooks made two free throws for a 73-67 Oregon lead with 1:11 remaining. But Rice nailed a 3 with 45.7 seconds left to cut Oregon's lead to three.
Rorie all but sealed the Ducks' victory when he hit a jumper with 12 seconds for a 75-70 lead. Aaron Cosby missed the final shot for Illinois before Rorie made a layup for the final score.
Oregon shot 46 percent from the field to Illinois' 36 percent. The Ducks also scored 40 points in the paint to the Illini's 20.
The Ducks took a 68-64 lead on Brooks' jumper with 2:21 left. Rorie was fouled and made all three free throws for a 71-64 Oregon lead with 1:31 remaining. Rice responded with a 3 with 1:13 left.
The Illini had built a five-point lead after a free throw by Rice and a jumper by Nnanna Egwu with 8:16 left.
After the Ducks cut it to one, Starks hit a 3 for a 64-60 lead with 5:49 left. Young tied it at 64 with two free throws with 4:43 left. The Illini shot 37 percent from the field but were 14 for 14 at the free-throw line in the first half. Rice scored 14 and Egwu added eight.
Oregon shot 46 percent from the field but just 2 for 5 on free throws. Brooks had 14 and Cook added eight. Cook also had three fouls by halftime.
After Oregon cut the lead to 25-22, Illinois went on a 10-0 run, but the Ducks rallied with a 13-4 run to pull to within 39-35 at halftime. Young, Oregon's leading scorer for the season, did not start. He had eight points before halftime.
Illinois lost to seventh-ranked Villanova 73-59 on Tuesday in New York.
Oregon fell to Mississippi 79-73 on Tuesday in its previous game.