Takeaways: Ohio State makes too many mistakes to pull off win at No. 18 Illinois

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – There are two-point shots Illinois coach Brad Underwood is more than fine with allowing.

From a technical standpoint, Underwood calls it “rear-view contesting” shots. In short, with an Illini defender on your hip after going around a ball screen, players are pressured into taking tough twos, often off-balance floaters, with his primary post players waiting near the rim to provide further coverage.

This wasn’t news to Ohio State when it went to No. 18 Illinois on Sunday afternoon. In winning their last three games to climb back to .500 in Big Ten play, the Buckeyes brought a burgeoning sense of confidence anchored by the belief that they had turned a corner by playing smarter, more connected basketball.

It made the ending of an 87-79 loss at the State Farm Center all the more galling for coach Jake Diebler and his players, who led 68-63 with 7:43 to play but were outscored 24-11 from there as the Fighting Illini (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten) won going away.

Ohio State (13-9, 5-6) missed 13 of its final 16 shots while allowing Illinois to hit six of its final eight shots and go 18 for 28 (64.3%) from the floor during the second half.

“Especially on the road against a ranked team, you have to make sure you execute on both sides of the ball,” junior guard Bruce Thornton told The Dispatch. “A lot of miscommunications, easy scores and us taking tough twos and not executing the offense. You just can’t win games like that.”

Ohio State center center Ivan Njegovan battles Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr.

It’s not been the formula the Buckeyes had been following in winning at No. 11 Purdue, at home against Iowa and at Penn State leading into this game. After shaking off a run of three losses by five total points, Ohio State had been preaching accountability, connectedness and overall better play while entering February as a team on the rise in the Big Ten standings.

Sunday afternoon, they deviated from that script. Illinois had plenty to do with it, but the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/takeaways-ohio-state-makes-too-232623952.html

Author : The Columbus Dispatch

Publish date : 2025-02-02 23:26:00

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