Freshman guard Jalen Coleman-Lands swished a 3-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer to lift Illinois to an 82-79 victory over Chicago State on Monday night in an Emerald Coast Classic preliminary-round game at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Ill.

After Chicago State committed a shot-clock violation with 4.6 seconds left, Illinois called timeout and set up a play where junior guard Malcolm Hill dribbled most of the floor, drew a double team and fed the open Coleman-Lands. The officials went to the scorer's table for a video review, which proved he released his jumper with two-tenths of a second to go.

Illinois (2-3) trailed 66-52 with 10:58 to go, but rallied to avoid the first 1-4 start in school history. Redshirt freshman forward Michael Finke came off the bench to lead the Illini with 17 points. Coleman-Lands, Hill and senior center Mike Thorne Jr. added 12 points apiece.

Chicago State, which entered the night with a 3-1 record but no wins over Division I teams, was shooting for its first win in 12 tries against the state's flagship school.

The Cougars (3-2) received 21 points from junior guard Elliott Cole, 20 from senior guard Kieran Woods and 16 from junior forward Trayvon Palmer. Chicago State canned 11 of 25 3-pointers as the visitors led most of the way.

The Cougars built a 40-26 lead with 1:01 left in the first half on a pair of Cole free throws. Illinois trimmed the margin to six points early in the second half, but Palmer sank a 3-pointer to restore a 66-52 lead with 10:58 to go.

When the undersized Cougars continued to pick up fouls at a rapid rate, Illinois spied an opportunity. With four Chicago State players saddled with four fouls, the Illini reeled off 14 points in a row and pulled into a 66-66 tie on a pair of Finke free throws with 7:40 to play.

llinois played without junior shooting guard Kendrick Nunn (thumb), sophomore power forward Leron Black (knee) and junior point guard Jaylon Tate (finger).

The Illini move into the Emerald Coast Classic semifinals against UAB on Friday at Niceville, Fla.