Ohio State freshman forward E.J. Liddell flexes in celebration after a putback dunk against Illinois. Ohio State won 71-63 March 5. Credit: Cori Wade | Lantern File Photo
When E.J. Liddell was being recruited to play in college, his top three included both Ohio State and his home-state school Illinois.
The sophomore forward ultimately landed at Ohio State and, since his arrival, has torched his home-state team in two games played against them. Saturday was no different for the Belleville native, posting a career-high scoring performance in his first game in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.
However, Liddell said that returning to Illinois didn’t give him any added motivation going into the contest.
“It’s my home state school but that’s not what motivated me today, it was my teammates,” Liddell said Saturday. “I felt like today I just did everything I could for my teammates.”
Last season, Liddell’s breakout performance came against Illinois as he played a key role in Ohio State’s late March win over the Illini. Liddell recorded his first career double-double in that win, putting up 17 points and 11 rebounds.
On Saturday, Liddell produced another masterclass performance against the Illini.
Liddell poured on 26 points on 10-of-16 from the field while adding 7 rebounds in Ohio State’s 87-81 win over Illinois.
Entering the game 3-for-18 from three-point range, Liddell more than doubled his season total Saturday — finishing 4-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Despite Liddell’s shining performance from deep, head coach Chris Holtmann said that remains an area of improvement for the Buckeye forward.
“We just want E.J. to stay aggressive, he’s a very good mid-range shooter. The college three-point line is longer, he’s still adjusting to that,” Holtmann said Saturday. “I think it’s still an evolving thing for him shooting the ball from behind the line.”
Early on in the game, Liddell hit his first two shot attempts before missing his next three. However, he quickly got his scoring back on track.
Liddell said he’s been working to improve his confidence when shooting lulls occur.
“The game goes on, you can’t dwell on the past, you can’t get those shots back, and you just gotta worry about the next shot you have to shoot,” Liddell said. “I have to keep learning that and keep improving. I’m getting better everyday at that, if I miss a shot then there’s opportunity that the next shot goes in.”
On the defensive end, Liddell was tasked with slowing Illinois sophomore center Kofi Cockburn — who stands at 7-foot and weighs in at 285 lbs. Liddell is significantly smaller, standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing 240 lbs.
However, Liddell, with some support from double and triple teams, frustrated Cockburn and kept him relatively quiet until the later stages of the game. The Jamaican native finished the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but also turned the ball over three times on the day.
Liddell said that slowing Cockburn was on the offensive end was a key for the Buckeyes heading into Saturday’s contest.
“Kofi is a massive dude, he gets position well and he’s really good,” Liddell said. “I felt like our focus was on the defensive end more than the offensive end and I felt we did everything on defense, got stops, that would help our momentum on offense.”
Liddell entered the road-bout with the Illini coming off one of his worst performances against another home state team in Northwestern.
Against the Wildcats, Liddell did not hit a single field goal while only totalling five points alongside two assists. However, Liddell did provide a team-high 10 rebounds in Ohio State’s 81-71 triumph over Northwestern Wednesday.
Due to that poor scoring performance, Liddell said he wanted to bounce back against the Illini.
“I just felt like I needed to contribute more so the game wouldn’t be as close as it was against Northwestern, but today I determined myself, got back in the gym and did everything I could today,” Liddell said.
Although he produced in different ways against Northwestern and Illinois, Liddell said he’s always looking to make an impact every time he takes the floor.
“I feel like I have the same approach to every game, it’s just go out there and do what my teammates need me to do and win the game,” Liddell said. “Northwestern, I had 10 rebounds, I felt like that helped us out, we won the rebound battle. Tonight, it was the scoring, that’s where I stepped up at to help us win.”
