When it was announced two hours before tip that Ohio State would be without redshirt senior guard Kam Williams, it was apparent the Buckeyes would need to find additional scoring to beat Illinois.
While Andre Wesson got the first start of his career in place of the suspended Williams, it was star forward Keita Bates-Diop that put the team on his back against a scrappy, defensive-minded Illini squad.
Bates-Diop scored a career-high 35 points on 10-of-16 shooting Sunday, while making 13-of-15 from the free throw line, as Ohio State earned its 20th win of the season, skating by Illinois, 75-67, in front of 18,743 at Value City Arena.
Williams was averaging 8.0 points and 2.0 rebounds entering the game, and Bates-Diop took both of those averages and added them to his own, more than making up for the absence of the senior. The Normal, Ill., native said after the win that he knew more shots would be available.
"It was a little weird at the beginning, but we figured it out as the game went on," Bates-Diop said. "Taking away Kam's field goal attempts, however many he takes a game, it's going to be spread out across the board. Today in this game, I had a shorter guy on me a lot so I got to the free throw line as much as I could."
At this point in the season, Bates-Diop's offensive abilities are known throughout the conference, as the redshirt junior is widely viewed as the leading contender for Big Ten Player of the Year. Teams that have played Bates-Diop more physical, however, have had success as Indiana held him to just 13 points on Tuesday.
Playing a smaller, less physical roster against Illinois, Bates-Diop flourished not only offensively but on the glass, as he corralled 13 rebounds in the win, tying a career-high. Illini head coach Brad Underwood went as far as to call Bates-Diop the MVP of the conference after the game.
"I think Keita showed why he is the MVP of our league. We knew that coming in," Underwood said. "He is a very difficult matchup for us. We don't have tremendous size. On the perimeter, we were worried about him getting to his sweet spots."
While his outside shot wasn't falling, Bates-Diop dominated inside the three-point line. With Illinois' tallest player (6-foot-10) Michael Finke playing most of his game on the perimeter, Bates-Diop converted eight of his nine shots inside the arc.
With Williams out, Holtmann used a shorter bench, giving just eight players significant minutes (Kyle Young played only the final minute of the first half). Williams' absence was felt more on the offensive end, as the Buckeyes connected on just 3-of-16 shots from the three-point line. Williams leads Ohio State from long range this season (minimum 50 attempts), connecting on an ultra-efficient 46.3 percent of his shots from deep.
His absence was felt against Illinois and could be felt more moving forward, as Holtmann said there is no timetable for Williams' return to the lineup.
Chris Holtmann said he has not decided yet whether or not Kam Williams will join the team in Purdue on Wednesday.
— James Grega Jr. (@JGrega11) February 4, 2018
"He is so efficient in time and space from 15 feet or behind the three-point line. It eliminates a guy that, you really have to know where he is at," Holtmann said. "Could (Williams) have gotten us six or eight points off of one more type of opportunity, that is what I think we would have missed."
With Williams' presence and impact gone from the floor for now, Bates-Diop said he has faith that he and the rest of his teammates will step up to the challenge until Williams is allowed to return. That faith will be tested Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., when Ohio State travels to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on the No. 3-ranked Purdue team that has not lost since late November.
"We are a family. We accept whatever happens. Obviously it hurts a little bit, but we have faith in (Andre Wesson) to come in and make plays, and he did this game," Bates-Diop said. "Everybody played a little bigger role than they usually do. That speaks to our maturity and our togetherness as a team."
