The Illinois basketball team lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes 71-63 on Thursday night.
Illinois started out well against the Buckeyes. They did a good job of controlling the pace on offense in the first half. Despite players getting in foul trouble, Illinois led at half 37-30.
The second half is where things went wrong. Illinois was outscored 41-26. The Fighting Illini couldn’t buy a basket at times. Most of Illinois’ players struggled on Thursday, but there was one player who will be awarded MVP for this game.
The MVP for this game is Ayo Dosunmu. Ayo was clearly the best player in an Illinois jersey on Thursday.
Ayo had an efficient night shooting. He shot 9-of-14 from the field and 1-of-3 from three-point range. He had 21 points to go along with 5 assist and 5 rebounds.
Ayo was the lone offensive threat for the Orange and Blue on the court. His off-ball defense was great, and he also had one steal on the night.
There was not another player in consideration for this award. Only one other Illinois player scored in double digits and that was Andres Feliz.
Ohio State did a good job of making other players, besides Ayo, try to create and score. Illinois had a bad shooting night as a team.
This loss puts Illinois as the No. 7 seed in the east region based on ESPN’s bracketology. Illinois falls to 20-10 overall and 11-7 in the Big Ten, and this loss snaps their four-game winning streak. Illinois’ next opponent is the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday at 6 PM.