The cameras hovered less than a foot from the floor, trying to catch the tears falling down Brandon Paul’s face as he crouched near center court and thought about how fast it all went.

It was his personal moment with the building that’s witnessed the pain and joy of his Illinois men’s basketball career. On Saturday, Assembly Hall hosted its 50th birthday, Paul and his fellow seniors’ final home game of their college tenure, and a 72-65 Illinois win over Nebraska that all but surely places the Illini in the NCAA tournament, almost 12 months removed from missing the postseason entirely last season.

“It means the world to me, the rest of the seniors as well as the rest of the team,” Paul said after the game. “It’s obviously good to go out on a win, and it was an emotional night for us. Nebraska played extremely well. No game in the Big Ten is a gimme.”

Because of the strength of the Big Ten this year, general wisdom said the Illini would be a virtual lock for the field of 68 should they reach eight conference wins. With bottom-feeder Nebraska (13-16, 4-12 in the Big Ten) traveling to Champaign for senior night and Illinois hitting the road for its final two games of the season after that, Saturday appeared to Illinois’ best chance at hitting eight Big Ten wins.

Nebraska pushed Illinois until the final buzzer and hit shots from all over the gym, but in the end, Paul’s postgame tears were filled with happiness. After everything the seniors have been through their careers — missing the NCAA tournament their freshman year, not receiving any postseason invitations last season and losing former Illini head coach Bruce Weber — this last go around looks like it could be special under first-year head coach John Groce.

At the very least, the Illini appear like they’re squarely in control of when their season comes to an end and won’t be at the will of a selection committee.

Paul scored 14 points, dished out five assists and triggered his signature flair for the spectacular on his lone 3-pointer of the game, chucking a long attempt with the shot clock winding down to give Illinois the 55-53 lead with 7:06 remaining in the second half. At that point, Nebraska and Illinois traded buckets for the lead and did so up until Paul nailed a jumper to tie the game at 57-57 with 5:39 left to play for the game’s 10th tie.

Fellow senior D.J. Richardson added a 3-pointer and Illinois never looked back. Richardson recorded 13 points and two steals, but Illinois’ guards struggled to contain Nebraska sharp-shooters Ray Gallegos and Dylan Talley, who together combined for 43 points on 8-for-16 shooting from distance.

Nebraksa shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, keeping pace with Illinois, which wiped the floor with the Cornhuskers in their Jan 22., matchup in Lincoln, Neb. Illinois won that game 71-51 but didn’t have an answer for the two Cornhusker guards Saturday, even though both played the entire game without rest.

“We changed coverages in our man-to-man about three or four times to try to stymie them or get them out of flow,” Groce said. “We went zone there for a couple of possessions. It’s tricky. They were on such a roll from such deep range, you get a little nervous about how much zone you’re gonna play. Those two were a load.”

Illini forward Myke Henry played major minutes because of an ankle injury Sam McLaurin suffered in the first half and finished with 12 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes. He brought down a crucial offensive board with Illinois clinging to a four-point lead with 59 seconds remaining. From there, Nebraska was forced to foul the rest of the way, minimizing any threat of a comeback.

“I know he got it in him all the time,” said sophomore guard Tracy Abrams, who lives with Henry. “I’m pretty confident in most of our teammates. Myke definitely came up big. I think he was out there and he wanted to win.”

Abrams was one of five Illinois players to score in double-digits, leading the way with 16 points. It was just the second time Illinois accomplished that feat all year, the last time coming on Feb. 3 against Wisconsin.

With all of the hooplah surrounding the game and the team’s postseason hopes, Groce had to work to keep his team even keel. While much of the campus was celebrating Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day on Friday, Groce catered a team meal at his house to honor the seniors and stay focused.

Once his team had put the game out of reach Saturday, Groce honored his seniors in another way. He tried to put all five on the floor with under 10 seconds left for one last ovation in front of the crowd at Assembly Hall.

But confusion ensued, as Groce botched his subs and left Tyler Griffey sitting on the sidelines.

“I was like: ‘Tyler, get back in.’ He’s like, ‘I’m not in,’” Paul said as he shook his head laughing. “The most important thing is that we went out on a win.”

Paul went out with his jersey lifted over his head sobbing, his farewell tour only beginning with his tearful goodbye to Assembly Hall.

Ethan can be reached at [email protected] and @AsOfTheSky.