Illini blow 16 point lead,lose at buzzer to Utah in Vegas

LAS VEGAS—Shawn Glover banked home a runner in the lane at the buzzer and Utah rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to beat No. 20 Illinois 60-58 in the third round of the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday night. The officials reviewed the basket and counted it after Glover barely got off his close-in shot in time. Jay Watkins hit Glover on an outlet after rebounding missed a jumper by Demetri McCamey with four seconds left. McCamey led Illinois with 19 points and seven rebounds and teammate Mike Tisdale added 18 points. Luka Drca led Utah second-half charge with 14 of his 16 points. Watkins added 12 points and Glover had five.Utah now plays Oklahoma State in the championship game Saturday night.In the second half, the Utes shot 16 for 23 after going 7 of 29 in the first half.The Illini went on an 18-2 run in the first half and led 32-16 at halftime.But the Utes showed life to start the second half, taking their first lead on Glover’s free throw with 4:53 left at 51-50. After that there were four lead changes and four ties before Glover won it.This was the first time the teams have met since 1983.Illinois won the Las Vegas Invitational in 2001 and 2004, when the tournament was played at a local high school gym, which sat around 2,000.