Ohio State men’s basketball falls to Illinois thanks to Fighting Illini comeback

[ad_1]

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Bruce Thornton leaned into a jumper, sinking it from straight-on to seemingly stem yet another push from Illinois. Upon review, it was ruled a 3-pointer, pushing Ohio State’s lead to 68-63 with 7:30 to play in a game the Buckeyes had led for the entire second half.

Ohio State had withstood two 10-0 Illinois runs to that point, but Illinois’ best was still to come. The Buckeyes (13-9, 5-6 Big Ten), fell apart from there, allowing No. 18 Illinois (15-7, 7-5) to blow the game open in the final seven minutes to win going away, 87-79.

This time, the Illinois kill shot was a 15-0 run broken by a Ques Glover bucket with 2:28 to play. That made it 78-70, and Glover fouled out 17 seconds later.

Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr. tries to get a hand on the ball as Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis drives to the basket.

The Buckeyes missed 12 of their next 13 shots after Thornton’s 3-pointer. That drought was only broken by a Devin Royal dunk off a Thornton 3-point miss, giving him 29 points, 19 of which came during the first half.

The loss ends Ohio State’s three-game winning streak and comes in what was the team’s third game in seven days. Royal’s scoring total was a career-high in Big Ten play. Thornton added 22 and freshman John Mobley Jr. had 18.

MORE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy

The Buckeyes were shorthanded while the Illini got a key piece of their rotation back. Sophomore forward Sean Stewart was listed as questionable but missed the game due to illness. Illinois center Tomislav Ivisic returned after missing three games with mononucleosis.

Ohio State coach Jake Diebler’s team saw a three-game winning streak come to an end Sunday when the Buckeyes lost to Illinois.

Still, Ohio State built a lead as high as 11 points during the second half and maintained it until a three-point play from Kylan Boswell with 6:04 to play put the home team ahead 70-68. It was Illinois’ first…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-state-mens-basketball-falls-211526804.html

Author : The Columbus Dispatch

Publish date : 2025-02-02 21:15:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.