The Ohio State men’s basketball team huddles up during their 77-74 loss to No. 2 Illinois at the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
In a win-or-go-home ballgame, the Buckeyes came up just a play short.
Ohio State’s hot streak came to an end Friday night at the hands of Illinois, likely squashing the Buckeyes’ hope of securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team (20-12, 9-11 Big Ten) fell in a wire-to-wire contest to Illinois (23-8, 14-6 Big Ten) 77-74 as Terrance Shannon Jr. and the Fighting Illini bigs proved to be just too much for the Buckeyes to handle in Minneapolis.
Illinois senior guard Terrnace Shannon Jr. notched 28 points as Illinois tallied 19 offensive rebounds.
Just after 6:30 p.m., fifth-year forward Jamison Battle got the scoring started for the Buckeyes after he connected on a spinning mid-range jumper but just 13 seconds later, Shannon slammed a left-handed dunk over Ohio State sophomore center Felix Okpara, giving Illinois the momentum.
The Fighting Illini took their first lead of the game after Illinois redshirt junior forward Dain Dainja laid in a right-handed layup with 12:43 left in the first half. It was the first time Ohio State had been trailing since arriving in Minneapolis for the Big Ten Tournament.
Following an Ohio State turnover, Shannon took the ball coast to coast for a successful and-1, which put Illinois on a 7-0 run with 8:16 left before halftime.
Ohio State had an answer.
Fifth-year forward Zed Key secured an offensive rebound after sophomore guard Evan Mahaffey missed a shot, put it back up, drew a foul and made the layup with 5:17 remaining. That sparked what would become a 9-0 Ohio State run.
Despite the Buckeye run at the end of the half, Illinois took a 31-29 lead into the break.
Shannon had 14 of the Fighting Illini’s first-half points, and Ohio State was led by sophomore guard Bruce Thornton with 7 points.
Out of halftime, the Buckeyes offense was firing on all cylinders.
Scores from Battle and sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. were followed by a corner three by Thornton, which marked the eighth straight point scored by Ohio State to open the second half.
The Buckeyes kept pushing the pace on offense.
With 12:01 to go, freshman forward Devin Royal missed a mid-range jumper, got his own offensive rebound, and kicked it out to Thornton who then drove down the lane and got a running right-handed layup to go, giving Ohio State a 52-44 lead, its largest of the game.
Illinois stormed back.
After an Okpara block, Dainja got his own offensive rebound and outmuscled the Buckeyes defender to draw an and-1, pushing the Fighting Illini run to 7-0 with 8:18 to go.
Royal rose up for a 3-pointer from the right wing but couldn’t get it to fall. Okpara secured the offensive rebound, allowing Thornton to convert on a running floater with only 2:38 to go, which increased the Buckeye lead to 71-68.
Illinois’ big men gave Ohio State fits as they reeled in seven offensive rebounds in the second half.
With about 30 seconds to go, the Fighting Illini senior forward Coleman Hawkins had back-to-back offensive rebounds and Shannon made two free throws with 11 seconds left to give Illinois a 77-74 lead.
Battle missed a moving, right-wing three to tie it, sealing the deal for Illinois, giving them a 77-74 victory to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
On the other end, the Buckeyes will now have to wait until Sunday to figure out their fate. Selection Sunday, which unveils the 68-team fields for the NCAA tournament, will begin at 6 p.m. on CBS.
