NORMAL, Ill. – Two free throws by UCF guard B.J. Taylor with one second remaining gave the Knights a come-from-behind, 63-62, victory over the Illinois State men's basketball team in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Monday night in front of 7,984 fans on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
With the loss, Illinois State (28-7) concluded an historic season which saw the Redbirds win a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and set program records for overall victories (28), regular-season wins (25) and conference wins (17).
Senior forward Deonte Hawkins became the 43rd member of Illinois State's 1,000-point club Monday night, as Hawkins netted 15 points to push him over 1,000 and finish with 1,007.