An overtime takeover from Brice Williams helped the Nebraska men’s basketball team knock off No. 18 Illinois, 80-74, Thursday night in Lincoln.

Williams scored eight of his game-high 27 points in overtime, as Nebraska (13-7, 3-7 Big Ten) snapped a six-game losing streak and a nine-game losing streak to the Fighting Illini dating back to the 2018-19 season.

Williams, who grabbed a season-high eight boards, broke a 72-all deadlock with a jumper with 2:28 remaining in OT. That started a personal 8-0 run for the senior, as Nebraska outscored the Illini, 10-4 in the extra session. 

Connor Essegian finished with 14 points off the bench while Juwan Gary had 13 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks, as the Huskers forced 17 turnovers and held Illinois to 35.6 percent shooting. 

Illinois (14-7, 6-5 Big Ten) had a chance to send the game to overtime after Gary’s miss jumper with 26 seconds left. The Huskers, who had three fouls, used three teams to run down the clock before Will Riley’s potential game-winner 3-point attempt in the waning seconds was off the mark. 

Kasparas Jakucionis led Illinois with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Riley added 16 points off the bench. 

In the first half, a late Nebraska surge gave the Huskers a 40-31 lead heading into the locker room. With the score tied at 22, Nebraska went on a 11-1 spurt to take control after Gary’s basket with 2:23 left in the half gave NU a 33-23 lead. The Illini cut the lead to 38-31 before a Williams dunk with 14 seconds left stretched the lead back to nine at the break.

Nebraska built a 54-44 lead with five straight points, capped by 3-pointer from Berke Büyüktuncel to force an Illini timeout with just over 12 minutes remaining. 
Illinois clawed back behind Riley, who scored 13 straight points for the Illini, the last of which made it 58-54 with 8:33 left. The Huskers pushed the lead back to six on a Gary basket, but baskets from Kylan Boswell and Dra Gibbs Lawhorn made it a two-point game. 

The Huskers, who never trailed, led 70-67 on a Morgan basket with 1:05 left but Gibbs Lawhown, who finished with 15 off the bench, tied it with a 3-pointer with 47.2 seconds left, setting up a dramatic finish. 

The Huskers will hit the road to face No. 16 Oregon on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. (CST). The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network with audio coverage from the Huskers Radio Network.