Who? Owls teach Illini a hard lesson

CHAMPAIGN — A difficult nonconference schedule has posed all sorts of problems for Illinois, but the Illini lost one they were expected to win Saturday, falling to Florida Atlantic 73-71 in overtime at the State Farm Center.

“I have to give a ton of credit to FAU,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “They were better coached and better prepared than we were, and they just played harder.”

Ayo Dosunmu’s long 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation tied the score at 63 and forced overtime. Trent Frazier had a chance to put Illinois (4-9) up by three points with 30 seconds left in OT, but he missed both.

Anthony Adger made a basket while being fouled by Frazier with 20 seconds left to put the Owls (9-4) ahead 72-71, and his free throw accounted for the final margin after Da’Monte Williams and Dosunmu missed 3s on Illinois’ final possession.

“We’re good,” Dosunmu said. “We’re a tight-knit group, and we need to get better together.”

Adger scored a career-high 27 points for FAU, which outrebounded the Illini 51-38.

Dosunmu led Illinois with 21 points, and Aaron Jordan scored 20. The Illini missed 19 layups, 12 in the second half, and shot 24-for-76 (32 percent). Frazier, the Illini’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, scored nine.

The Illini concluded their nonconference schedule with a 4-7 mark.