CHICAGO – The Lexus “December to Remember” Classic is something Bruce Weber and his Illini would much rather forget.

Leading the 22nd-ranked Arizona Wildcats by as many as 13 points in the first half Saturday at the United Center, the Illini were able to hold on to the lead until the final minute of regulation when Arizona tied the game and forced an overtime.

The Wildcats jumped out to an overtime lead and never again relinquished it, beating the Illini 78-72 in front of an orange-clad crowd of hopeful Illini fans.

“Obviously, it’s a disappointing game,” said Illinois coach Bruce Weber, who pointed to the team’s inability to make free throws as the primary cause of the Illinois loss.

“(The free throws) have plagued us for the last two year and especially down the stretch,” he added.

To be sure, the Illini shot 2-of-8 from the charity stripe in the second half while the Wildcats were a perfect 6-of-6.

Arizona’s Jordan Hill had a career afternoon, scoring 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He also snared a career-high 14 rebounds in 41 minutes of playing time.

His day overshadowed that of Illinois’ Shaun Pruitt, who scored a career-high 24 points of his own. There was doubt about whether the senior center would play after twisting his ankle in practice a week ago, but if it was bothering him, it didn’t show on the court.

“(Arizona) decided to have Jordan Hill guard me one-on-one for most of the game, so I just wanted to take advantage of that,” Pruitt said. “Usually teams send a guy or two to double me.”

The Illini were able to keep Arizona’s Chase Budinger quiet most of the game. The sophomore forward was averaging 18.4 points per game and was held to eight – all but one of which came in the second half and overtime.

The same could not be said for touted freshman Jerryd Bayless, who scored 20 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

The game was not without a bit of controversy, either.

With just seconds on the clock, Arizona guard Nic Wise appeared to call a timeout, but the officials didn’t make the call. Wise would have drawn a technical foul because the Wildcats had used up their timeouts.

“I almost did but at the last minute I pulled back,” Wise said.

Weber wasn’t so sure.

“I didn’t have to hear it. I saw it,” he said. “But, you know, if that happens it’s a tough call.”

Wise came off the bench for Arizona and contributed 11 points and eight assists.

The loss is the third high-profile nonconference defeat for Illinois, which lost to Duke and Maryland earlier this year.

“We need someone who can create,” Weber said. “And I’m not sure we have that at this point.”

And how do you get to that point?

“Get better players, I guess,” Weber said.