The Illinois basketball team had the fan base excited for a while but fell just short of the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday.
This was a loss for the Illini that brought the team back down to a .500 record at 12-12 overall, and they are 2-9 in Big Ten play. They really needed this game if they wanted any hope at making a run to the NCAA tournament. They fell just short, but fans clearly see the potential in this team.
Illinois started the game off well on Sunday. They were hitting shots and being aggressive early on. This enabled them to get a lead 30-15 with 10:11 left in the first half. But, the Buckeyes weren’t going to let the Illini run away and hide.
Ohio State went on an impressive run. During this time, Illinois decided to go on a huge drought. This wasn’t a good combination for the Illini and it led to a 19-0 charge by the Buckeyes that had them in the lead 34-30 at halftime.
Illinois came out of halftime firing. They were playing well for much of the second half and even had the lead 63-60 with 5:20 left in the game. Ohio State, once again, wasn’t going to let Illinois win. The tied the game up at 63 and then never looked back. They ended up winning the game 75-67.
Here are the five takeaways from the Illini loss to Ohio State.