Jordan Gainey scores at buzzer to lift No. 1 Tennessee to 66-64 win at Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Tennessee’s undefeated start to the season and No. 1 ranking appeared to be fouling out at Illinois Saturday inside a raucous State Farm Center. Then the Vols showed why they’re ranked No. 1 and still undefeated.

Jordan Gainey drove the length of the floor, weaved through Illinois defenders and scored on a layup as time expired to lift No. 1 Tennessee to a 66-64 stunner on the road.

Gainey tied the game on a 3-pointer with 2:27 left and Igor Milicic stole an inbound and dunked in transition to put Tennessee up 64-62 with 1:32 to go.

Zakai Zeigler missed the front end of a one-and-one with 14 seconds left and Kasparas Jakucionis made the second of two free throws to tie the game on the other end. The inbound went to Gainey who went coast to coast for the win.

Gainey scored 23 points off the bench to lift Tennessee (10-0) despite team-wide foul trouble. Milicic grabbed 14 rebounds, despite scoring seven points on just 2-for-14 from the field.

Chaz Lanier scored 17 points but fouled out with 3:40 left, after checking in just 44 seconds earlier after sitting with four fouls. Zeigler had six points, two rebounds and two assists and sat for nearly 14 minutes in the second half after picking up his third and fourth fouls on the same possession just after halftime.

Illinois (7-3) got 22 points from Jakucionis, Tre White scored 11 and Will Riley had 10. The Illini didn’t make a shot from the floor over the final 4:55.

Zeigler picked up third foul with 18:14 left and got his fourth just one second later.

Jakucionis hit a three and got fouled by Lanier, his third, with 14:22 left and made the free throw to complete the four-point play. It capped a 10-0 Illinois run that turned a 37-33 deficit into a 43-37 lead. 

The Vols answered with five straight, but Jakucionis again made a three and again was fouled, this time it was Mashack’s third, with 11:18 to go, putting the Ilini up 50-44 after two four-point plays in less than three minutes. 

Darlinstone Dubar and Gainey hit back-to-back threes two minutes later to get it back to a tie game at 52-52.

Tennessee, Illinois combined for 26 fouls in first half

Fouls were the only thing going in the first half. Tennessee led 31-30 at the break after a combined 26 fouls were called. The Vols had 12 and Illinois had 14 while the two teams combined to have 11 players with two fouls each.

Tennessee’s two-foul club in the first half included Chaz Lanier, Zakai Zeigler, Felix Okpara, Jahmai Mashack and Jordan Gainey. Lanier had 15 points in the first half after going 4-for-10 from the field. He was the only player on either side to hit more than one shot from the field in the first half. 

Tennessee shot 21.4% from the field, 20.0% from the 3-point line and went 17-for-24 at the would line. Illinois was just as cold, shooting 24.0% from the floor while going 1-for-12 from the 3-point line and 17-for-21 from the foul line. 

Up Next: No. 1 Tennessee vs. Western Carolina

Tennessee returns home to host Western Carolina on Tuesday, the start of four straight home games, including the start of SEC play January 4 against Arkansas at Food City Center. 

Tuesday’s game is a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network+. The Vols then host Middle Tennessee State on December 23, a 7 p.m. ET start on SEC Network, and close the non-conference schedule against Norfolk State on December 31, a 3 p.m. ET start on SEC Network+.

The Arkansas game on Saturday, January 4 is a 1 p.m. ET start on ESPN and marks the return of former Tennessee center Jonas Aidoo, who transferred to Arkansas during the spring to play for new Razorback head coach John Calipari.