The 87-81 loss to Ohio State on Jan. 16 served as a bit of a turning point for Illinois. That day, head coach Brad Underwood’s team fell behind 39-22 in the first half, got the deficit back to single digits a few minutes into the second half, spent the ensuing time chopping away at the Buckeyes’ lead to make it a two-point game with 17 seconds left, then came up short.
Since then, the Illini have turned into the powerhouse many expected them to be entering the season. They have won 10 of their last 11 games, falling once to Michigan State but beating Iowa, Wisconsin (twice) and Michigan along the way. The latest victory – on Tuesday in Ann Arbor – put the college basketball landscape on notice considering Illinois won by 23 points without All-American guard Ayo Dosunmu (concussion).
| Who | Where | When | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Illinois (19-6, 15-4) | Columbus, Ohio (Schottenstein Center) | 4 p.m. | ESPN |
“They're a legit national title contender, and I think everybody kind of anticipated that in the season with Ayo and Kofi (Cockburn) returning and really good players around them,” head coach Chris Holtmann said on Friday. “Guys have really stepped up in Ayo's absence. Big, physical, play really hard. A well-coached team.”
This weekend, Ohio State intends to simultaneously put an end to Illinois’ recent hot stretch while getting back in the win column.
The No. 7 Buckeyes (18-7, 12-7) and No. 4 Illini (19-6, 15-4) will meet at 4 p.m. Saturday inside the Schottenstein Center in another battle of top-10 teams within the Big Ten. It will mark the regular-season finale for both teams, and it’ll be Senior Day for the home team.
“We know we're going to get a tremendous performance from Illinois,” Holtmann said. “Not only the fact that they're playing well, but being one of the few teams that have beat them. So we're going to get a tremendous performance from them. We're going to have to play, I believe, as well as we've played all year. I think our guys are aware of that. But our focus really this week has been trying to get better.”
The inward focus, which Holtmann referenced a couple of times, comes after Ohio State’s first three consecutive of the season. It has fallen to Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa in the past two weeks, sending the Buckeyes back to the drawing board.
Saturday’s tilt with the Illini, who rank top-10 nationally in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, isn’t a particularly easy way for a team like Ohio State to get back on track. But that’s what has to happen to avoid entering the postseason on a four-game skid.
It’ll require a big effort from everybody wearing scarlet and gray, including Holtmann, who was named on Friday as still in consideration for Naismith Coach of the Year.
“Looks like they did their voting before last week,” he said dryly.
Three Things To Watch
Which Offense Shows Up?
The first time these two teams met, Ohio State dropped 87 points. No team since then has even scored more than 75 on Illinois. Only one opponent before then – Rutgers' 91-point performance – put up as many points as the Buckeyes.
Simply put, Ohio State got after the Illini like almost nobody else. And given this team's defense, which ranks 79th in adjusted efficiency, it'll have to put up points in a big way once more on one of college basketball's best defenses that just held Michigan to a season-low 53 points.
Up until the last week or so, it would have been easy for Ohio State fans to feel optimistic about getting after Illinois. An efficient offense was essentially a given for much of the season. But the Buckeyes are coming off of a season-low 57 point performance against Iowa, and the game before they put up 67 points on Michigan State.
"We're not probably, to be expected, we're not quite as confident maybe as what we've been," Holtmann said. "We've got to do a good job as coaches to get back in a rhythm and to help them see their opportunities. I thought we were, in the Iowa game, just we were too careless, too sloppy offensively and the ball didn't move quite as well. And we missed some open shots, too. You've got to give Iowa credit, too, for that. I think the Michigan State game, it was just hard to get much of anything going offensively. I'm interested to see how we respond."
Whether the offense gets back on track or not could swing this game or way or another.
Two Illini Stars? Or Just One?
Ohio State knows it'll get another shot at Cockburn, the 7-foot, 285-pound center in All-American contention. It doesn't know whether or not it'll see Dosunmu, the junior guard up for National Player of the Year consideration who has missed two games while in concussion protocol.
With Dosunmu's status for Saturday's game up in the air, Ohio State has had to both prepare for how to attack Illinois with or without him. Dosunmu, who averages 21 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, had 22 points in the first game versus Ohio State, getting to the foul line 10 times. He's one of the best – and most clutch – players in the country. Yet as Trent Frazier, Andre Curbelo and Adam Miller have shown, the Illini have other talented options for CJ Walker and Duane Washington to battle in the backcourt if he can't go. (Update: Illinois announced before the game that Dosunmu will play against Ohio State.)
Cockburn will man the paint for Illinois, giving Kyle Young, E.J. Liddell and Zed Key a beast of a center to match up with. He has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, managing 17.5 points and 9.8 board per contest. He recorded 15 points and 11 boards against Ohio State two months ago.
"He's as physical as anybody I've ever coached against, and he also plays in a physical way," Holtmann said. "So I think you just have to be ready for the kind of battle it's going to be night in, night out."
E.J. vs. The State of Illinois
So far, it has happened twice. Both after he went for 26 points this season and a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double last season, E.J. Liddell denied him going off had anything to do with him playing against his home-state Illini.
I'm not sure any Illinois fans – who once wanted him to join their favorite team in Champaign – believe the Belleville native.
Liddell evidently has a knack for taking it to the Illini, whether intentional or not. On Saturday, he's looking for his third standout performance in three games across two years versus them. And for Ohio State to get a third straight win against the Illini and second of the season, it'll need a big day from the sophomore forward who's averaging 15.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
"I believe he's a first-team all-league performer, and I believe he's earned that," Holtmann said. "I really do."
Matching up against an Illinois defense with Cockburn in the middle is never a fun task, but Liddell poses an undeniable problem to an Illinois team that doesn't have a great option to defend him. Cockburn and Giorgi Bezhanishvili (6-foot-9, 245 pounds) are the only two players above 6-foot-6 who get regular playing time. Liddell's a tough guard for Cockburn considering the matchup of a three-level scorer versus a 285-pound center, and Bezhanishvili has a reputation as a lesser defender.
If the Buckeyes are going to pull this one out, they need Liddell to play like a star.
Prediction: Illinois 80, Ohio State 76
