Kasparas Jakucionis made a tiebreaking layup with 32 seconds left, and No. 22 Illinois survived a furious comeback bid by Washington to squeak out an 81-77 victory Sunday at Alaska Airlines arena.

Yet it should have been encouraging in equal measure that Illinois was able to withstand a bullish run from Washington (10-5, 1-3) and deliver in other areas to avoid a letdown after its upset of Oregon in Eugene days before.