Top 25: No. 12 Illinois 81, Auburn 79

By Andrew Seligman The Associated Press

Published: December 29, 2012 2:50 pm
Top 25 basketball • The Illini broke a three game losing streak at the United Center.
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Chicago • Tracy Abrams scored a career-high 29 points and No. 12 Illinois beat Auburn 81-79 on Saturday.

The Illini (13-1) saw an 11-point lead shrink to one in the closing minutes, but they prevailed after falling to Missouri in the Braggin' Rights game a week earlier — their first loss under coach John Groce.

Things got real tense when Frankie Sullivan buried a 3 for Auburn (5-7) to make it 68-67 with 4 minutes, 29 seconds remaining. Illinois then hit 13 of 18 free throws the rest of the way for a rare win at the United Center, where they had dropped three straight and five of six after winning 18 in a row. —

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