The flick of a fingertip with 0.1 seconds left made it all worth it.

Friday’s Illinois men’s basketball road opener against Hawaii could have easily been forgettable. The game wasn’t available on TV in Illinois, could only be viewed on a choppy Internet stream and in a fashion in line with the last couple seasons, it looked like the Illini wouldn’t close their marginal lead in the final minutes of the game.

The blink of an eye changed all that.

Senior guard D.J. Richardson nailed an overtime three at the buzzer to give the Illini a 77-76 win over the Warriors in their first true road game, advancing their record to 3-0 heading into the Maui Tournament opener against USC on Monday.

The Illini trailed for nearly the entire game, as Hawaii headed into the locker room with a 41-28 halftime lead. It seemed like Tracy Abrams was the only Illini who could get anything to fall in the first half, and he finished the night with perhaps the best game of this career, tallying 22 points, three assists and five steals in 35 minutes of action.

But D.J. Richardson’s 16-point second-half effort after being held scoreless in the first helped the Illini climb back from the dead.

With 2:08 left to play in regulation, Brandon Paul  – who led all scorers with 25 points – hit a three to give the Illini their first lead of the night 63-62. Illinois held that until Hawaii center Vander Joaquim hit his own buzzer-beater to tie the game at 66-66 and send the game into overtime.

With only extra time left, Hawaii opened up a five-point lead with 2:40 left in the game, but Richardson’s two threes, a bucket by senior Sam McLaurin and a free throw by Tracy Abrams closed the game with a 9-3 Illini run.

And that flick of a fingertip has seemingly given Illinois all the momentum as they head into their toughest test of the young season.

Ethan can be reached at a[email protected].