After three consecutive days of living on the edge, the magic ran out Sunday as the Buckeyes could not complete their championship game rally.
No. 9 Ohio State (21-9, 15-9) was unable to obtain its first Big Ten Tournament title since 2013, falling to No. 3 Illinois (23-6, 20-4) 91-88. Junior guard Duane Washington Jr. and redshirt junior forward Justice Sueing’s combined 54 points were enough to force overtime, but the Illini were able to close out the game to earn their third Big Ten Tournament crown.
Head coach Chris Holtmann said that although the result was a letdown, he is proud of the fight his team showed.
“We came close to a championship and it’s exceedingly disappointing, but what I’m not disappointed in is their resolve, their fight and their effort,” Holtmann said.
Down 81-80 with under two minutes remaining in overtime, sophomore center Kofi Cockburn cashed in on a pair of free-throws that would turn the lead for the final time. Consecutive turnovers from Sueing and sophomore forward E.J. Liddell, who finished with 12 points on 3-of-16 shooting, allowed Illinois to pad its late advantage to as much as 6 points.
Despite their lead ballooning to as much 17 points in the first half, the Illini allowed the Buckeyes to creep back into the game — taking their first lead with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.
However, With the game tied 67-67 with five minutes remaining, senior guard Trent Frazier delivered 5 straight points to swing the game back into the Illini’s favor.
However, a 3-point play from Sueing tied the game with 23 seconds remaining and ultimately sent the contest to overtime — where the Illini prevailed.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Redshirt senior guard CJ Walker said. “We fought, we stayed together, we stayed connected. It was all the things I said before the Big Ten Tournament started, that’s what we needed to do, I feel like that’s what we did throughout this tournament.”
Illinois had a simple philosophy to get its offense going in the early stages of the game: get the ball to Cockburn.
Cockburn, who averaged 17.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game entering the matchup, wasted no time asserting his fingerprints on the game. He recorded 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting before the Buckeyes could tally their second made field goal.
The Jamaica native finished with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds.
Although he enjoyed a fast start, foul trouble relegated Cockburn to the bench with 15:31 left in the second half.
Clinging to a 4-point lead with Cockburn on the bench, junior forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili produced several big plays in reserve and scored 10 consecutive points for the Illini.
Bezhanishvili finished with 12 points and six rebounds before fouling out with under a minute remaining in regulation.
The Georgia native led the Illini bench to a 41-22 advantage over the Ohio State reserves.
Senior guard Da’Monte Williams hit a trio of backbreaking threes in the opening half, assisting Cockburn at keeping the Buckeyes at bay. Williams finished with 13 points on 3-of-3 from deep.
Williams, Cockburn and Bezhanishvili were three of Illinois’ six players who scored in double-figures.
The Illini slowed Ohio State’s offense out of the gates, as the Buckeyes missed their first nine shots, until Sueing broke the drought with 13:26 left in the half. However, the Buckeyes closed the half hitting 10-of-12 shots to cut Illinois’ 17-point lead to 5 entering the locker room.
Holtmann pointed to a lack of rhythm that led to the Buckeyes’ early scoring struggles.
“I thought that we had to get into the rhythm of the game,” Holtmann said. “We also needed more bite on both ends.”
However, Washington helped drag the Buckeyes out of their early slump — dropping 15 first-half points on 6-of-10 from the field. Washington finished with a career-high 32 points and eight rebounds.
After shooting 54.5 percent from 3-point range against Michigan Saturday, the well ran dry for the Buckeyes against the Illini. Ohio State shot just 32 percent from beyond the arc.
The Buckeyes entered Sunday’s game trailing for just 8:27 of their 125 minutes played in the Big Ten Tournament.
The dominance did not bleed into the game against the Illini as the Buckeyes trailed for more than 18 minutes in the opening half.
After a 16-point performance in his Big Ten Tournament debut Thursday, Sueing scored just 15 points in his next two games.
The Hawaii native aided Washington in the comeback effort Sunday by scoring 22 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
The Buckeyes return to the court Friday as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament when they battle Oral Roberts.
“In March you have to respect each and every team, no matter what their record was, what they did previous in the season, so we’re going to respect them like we play any other team in the Big Ten,” Walker said.
Photos by Mackenzie Shanklin
This story was updated Sunday, March 14 at 7:13 p.m. with quotes from CJ Walker and Chris Holtmann.
