DJ Davis scores 31 but Washington Huskies men can’t complete upset of No. 22 Illinois

SEATTLE – DJ Davis kept firing three-pointers and after each shot, the cheers from the Alaska Airlines Arena crowd to an earsplitting crescendo.

He’s never been better than he was Sunday afternoon when he came off the bench and canned seven three-pointers for 31 points — both career highs.

With Davis slinging shots that landed like haymakers, the Washington men’s basketball team put the ball in his hands of their senior sharpshooter needing a bucket in the final 30 seconds to keep pace with No. 22 Illinois.

Davis drove to the lane and lost the ball, which gave possession to the Illini after a tie up. Davis got the ball once again, but the game ended after his hurried three-pointer missed the mark and Washington lost 81-77 on Sunday afternoon.

Luis Kortright added 10 points, but Davis essentially carried Washington’s offense with a near-historic performance in front of 8,156.

Davis, who converted 11 of 19 shots, including 7 of 14 three-pointers, sank the most three-pointers by a Big Ten player this season and tied former UW standout Dominic Green for the second most threes in Husky history.

This game got away from the Huskies in the first 10 minutes when the Illini used an 8-0 run to go up 21-8.

Illinois increased its advantage to 27-10 with 7:13 left in the first half when Davis began a three-point barrage that allowed Washington to cut its deficit to 33-28 with 2:17 left in the first half.

The Illini answered with a 9-3 run to take a 42-31 lead into the break.

Midway in the second half, freshman guard Vazoumana Diallo drove into the paint and flipped a short pass to forward Wilhelm Breidenbach on the perimeter for an open three-pointer that sent a jolt through the crowd and narrowed the gap to 56-48 with 10:26 left.

Minutes later, senior forward Great Osobor canned a couple of free throws that pulled UW to within 61-57 and set up a thrilling finish.

Illinois (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten), which made its first trip to Seattle since 1927, received 18 points from guard Kasparas Jakucionis, while Tre White had 17 and Kylan Boswell 14.

The Huskies (10-5, 1-3) finished a seven-game homestand and plays four of their next six games on the road starting with next week’s road trip against Michigan State on Thursday and Michigan on Jan. 12.