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Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Ohio State

By Rees Woodcock

Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood yells at a referee after Illinois Fighting Illini guard Trent Frazier (1) got a call for fouling Ohio State Buckeyes guard Musa Jallow (2) during the second half at the United Center Wednesday Dec. 5, 2018, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images)
Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood yells at a referee after Illinois Fighting Illini guard Trent Frazier (1) got a call for fouling Ohio State Buckeyes guard Musa Jallow (2) during the second half at the United Center Wednesday Dec. 5, 2018, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 05: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini complains to a referee during a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at the United Center on December 05, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Ohio State defeated Illinois 77-67. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team headed up to Chicago but came back home with another loss as they fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

This game wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Illini, though. This program played pretty well for most of the contest but let it get away at the end. Illinois and Ohio State went back and forth to start the game. The Buckeyes did get out to a six-point lead, but Illinois fought back and tied it up at 15-15 with 12:42 left in the first half.

Ohio State then stormed back and took an eight-point lead multiple times with under 11 minutes to go in the first half. But, the Illini were resilient. They continued to be aggressive on defense and hit some big shots on offense. Illinois was down 30-22 but then went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 31-30. They continued to hit shots and had a halftime lead of 38-34 over Ohio State.

Illinois started the second half well. They extended their lead to six points, but the Buckeyes came storming back. Ohio State tied the game up at the 15:22 mark 46-46. The game continued to go back and forth until Illinois went cold and Ohio State started to hit shots. The Buckeyes got the lead up to 10 points with 9:11 left in the game and never looked back. The Illini fell to Ohio State 77-67.

Here are five observations from the Illini loss to Ohio State.

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