CHICAGO - For a dozen years, the United Center has been a warm and welcoming home away from home for the University of Illinois basketball team.

"We have managed to play at another level there," Illini coach Bruce Weber noted this week.

But on Saturday, after a blazing start that rekindled those warm memories, someone turned the heat down. Illinois went ice cold from the free-throw line and once again showed a continuing trend to bog down offensively as No. 22 Arizona rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat the Illini in overtime, 78-72.

Jerryd Bayless rebounded from a poor first half to finish with 20 points. That included six free throws without a miss in the final half-minute of overtime. And Jordan Hill, a 6-foot-10 sophomore who had never totaled more than 17 points and five rebounds in a game, erupted for 23 and 14, including a falling down rebound basket that tied the game at 61-61 and forced the overtime period.

Arizona's comeback victory, aided by a controversial apparent timeout call near the end of regulation, wiped out a strong performance by Illini center Shaun Pruitt, who played despite a sprained ankle and delivered 24 points and nine rebounds. Pruitt made 10 of his 11 field-goal attempts.

Illinois' chance to extend its December United Center winning streak to 13 games boiled down to something as painfully simple as missed free throws. The Illini made just four of 12 free throws in the second half and was 10-for-22 for the game. That was a bad omen when Arizona (6-2) was knocking down 25 of 32.

"It's been a weakness of ours for the last two years," said Illini guard Trent Meacham, who made three of five free throws. "It's something we've been working on. We have to knock them down. If I'd have hit mine, we probably would have won."

"It's obviously a disappointing game, a disappointing loss," Weber said. "The free throws have plagued us the last two years, and they hurt today, especially down the stretch.

"We didn't hit the free throws. We could have won the game, taken control of the game. And we had some breakdowns down the stretch.

"We talked about executing and finishing, and somehow we have to find a way to do it. We got a little cautious and tentative in the gut-check part of the game. We have to find somebody to make plays at the end of the game."

Illinois got off to a sizzling start and led 12-0 with just more than four minutes played. Arizona came back and tied the game 16-16, but Illinois grabbed control again and still led by 12 at 46-34 when Calvin Brock nailed a jumper with 13:17 to play in the second half.

But Arizona began chipping away at the lead, mainly behind the play of Bayless, Hill and ultra-quick point guard Nic Wise.

Illinois led 58-55 when Brian Randle made one of two free throws with 3:07 to play.

Wise answered with two free throws to make it a one-point game, but Illinois turned the ball over three straight times. Finally, with 58 seconds to go, Hill dunked the ball to give Arizona its first lead of the game, 59-58.

A long jumper by Brock put Illinois ahead 60-59 with 40 seconds to play, and after Arizona misfired, Meacham was fouled with 21 seconds to go.

Meacham, a 77 percent free-throw shooter, made one of two, putting the Illini on top, 61-59.

That might have been the game-winner when Wise missed on a driving shot for Arizona. But Hill flashed in to grab the rebound and scored while he was falling to the floor to tie the game.

There were still eight seconds to go when Frazier tried to get off a long shot for Illinois. The play was disrupted by Wise, who controlled the ball and appeared to be signaling for a timeout. Trouble was, Arizona did not have a timeout left. And Wise risked being called for a technical foul that could have untied the score.

The official did not acknowledge a timeout call, and the clock expired, sending the teams into overtime.

"I almost (called timeout), but then I remembered we didn't have any timeouts," Wise said. "I almost did, but at the last minute I pulled back."

Meacham said there was no doubt Wise requested the timeout.

"I saw him and heard him," Meacham said.

Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill said he was unaware of Wise's attempt to call a timeout Arizona didn't have.

"I didn't see that," said O'Neill, who is directing the club during Lute Olson's leave of absence. "That would have been grounds for murder. I thought our guys were aware there were no timeouts. Maybe he was faking it."

Arizona led wire-to-wire in the overtime period. A jumper by Chase Budinger and two free throws by Hill gave the Wildcats a 65-61 lead.

Arizona led 67-65 and Illinois was trying to tie the game when Randle fouled out on a charging call with 2:06 left in overtime. Randle's defense helped hold Budinger to eight points, 10 below his average.

Arizona led by five at 74-69 when Bayless made two free throws, but Meacham's 3-pointer with 25 seconds to go made it 74-72. Bayless answered with two more free throws for Arizona, and after Brock missed a jump shot, Bayless was fouled and hit two more from the free-throw line.

Illinois fell to 5-3 with losses to Duke, Maryland and Arizona - three teams that figure to be NCAA tournament-caliber.

"It's very frustrating," Pruitt said. "It's something that has happened to us a lot. We need to start going over game-time situations in practice."

A few extra drills practicing free throws wouldn't hurt, either.