Estonian guard Stefan Vaaks' Illinois suffer first loss at Texas Tech
Estonian basketball player Stefan Vaaks and his Illinois Fighting Illini teammates suffered their first NCAA Division loss of the season Tuesday night, falling 84-78 at No. 16 Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Vaaks, a 21-year-old Estonian guard in his first season with the Fighting Illini, who are competing in the Big Ten Conference, played 22 minutes and scored 10 points on 1-of-2 shooting from two-point range and 2-of-10 from three, adding three rebounds and one block . Illinois, ranked No. 3 nationally, trailed 49-29 at halftime before cutting the deficit to one point with 5:37 remaining, but could not complete the comeback .
The 6-foot-7 Vaaks joined Illinois this season as a transfer from Providence, where he averaged 15.8 points and 3.2 assists as a freshman and earned Big East All-Freshman Team honors . A native of Tabasalu, Estonia, he played professionally in the Latvia-Estonia Basketball League before moving to the United States .
Illinois (2-1) returns home to host Sam Houston on Friday . The Illini opened the season with wins over Fairleigh Dickinson (120-45) and Pennsylvania (112-70) before Tuesday's loss.
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Editor: : Henrik Laever, Andrew Whyte
