National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Illinois 81, Auburn 79
When: 2:15 PM ET, Saturday, December 29, 2012
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Officials: # Mike Sanzere, # Lamont Simpson, # Terry Wymer
Attendance: 18136
By SportsDirect Inc.

No. 15 Illinois 81, Auburn 79: Point guard Tracy Abrams scored a career-high 27 points and the Fighting Illini bounced back from their first loss by holding off the Tigers at the United Center in Chicago.

Illinois (13-1) forced 12 first-half turnovers and led 47-42 at the break. The Illini stretched the lead to 11 early in the second half, but Auburn cut the deficit to one on Frankie Sullivan’s 3-pointer with 4:29 left. Abrams, who also had eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, answered with two free throws and Illinois never relinquished the lead.

Auburn (5-7) dropped its second straight despite 21 points from Sullivan, who hit 5 of 12 3-pointers.

The Illini, who entered tied for the lead nationally with 9.8 3-pointers per game, shot just 4-of-14 from beyond the arc after going 8-of-32 in their previous game, an 82-73 loss to Missouri.

The Illinois enjoyed a huge advantage at the foul line, going 27-of-42 while Auburn shot 10-of-14.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Illinois won for just the second time in its last seven games at the United Center. … Auburn has lost nine straight to ranked teams. … Auburn G Chris Denson had averaged 17 points in his first four games since becoming academically eligible; he scored eight points Saturday on 2-of-8 shooting.
Top Game Performances
 
Auburn   Illinois
Frankie Sullivan 21 Scoring Tracy Abrams 27
Chris Denson 4 Assists Tracy Abrams 5
Allen Payne 10 Rebounds Tracy Abrams 8
Rob Chubb 3 Free Throws Made Tracy Abrams 13
Asauhn Dixon-Tatum 2 Steals Tracy Abrams 4
Chris Denson 1 Blocks Brandon Paul 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Auburn 79 48.3 11-23 10-16 18 35 4 9 20
Illinois 81 48.1 4-15 27-40 14 30 5 11 11