Ohio State’s Loss to Illinois Featured One of the Largest Foul Disparities in Recent Big Ten History

Ohio State was whistled for 27 fouls while Illinois was called for just 13 fouls in the Buckeyes’ 77-74 loss to the Illini in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night. According to Jay Cuda on X, it was just the second Big Ten game in the last six years in which one team was called for 14 more fouls than the other; the other took place earlier this year when Northwestern was called for 31 fouls while Purdue was called for 15 fouls in the Boilermakers’ 105-96 win over the Wildcats on Jan. 31.

that illinois vs. ohio state game was only the 2nd big ten game in the last 6 years in which one team got called for 14+ more fouls than the other.

the other was the northwestern/purdue game when purdue shot 46 FTs to northwestern's 8 & chris collins got ejected and fined

— Jay Cuda (@JayCuda) March 16, 2024

The disparity was particularly stark down the stretch of the game as the final seven personal fouls of the game were called against Ohio State while no fouls were called against Illinois in the game’s final five minutes and 43 seconds.

Illinois last foul came with 5:43 left in the game.

Ohio State had seven fouls in the final 5:28 (Illinois was 8/11 from the free-throw line in that span).

— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) March 16, 2024

Whether that means Ohio State fell victim to one-sided officiating or simply fouled more than its opponent likely depends on your perspective. Part of the reason why the foul disparity was so large was simply that Ohio State struggled to defend Illinois’ post players, particularly Dain Dainja, who had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Illini in the victory.

It wasn’t only Ohio State fans who criticized the officiating during and after the game, though, as even some national college basketball voices chimed in with negative opinions on how the game was officiated.

Been a lot of suspect refereeing today but none more suspect than that Ohio State-Illinois game in the 2nd half.

Buckeyes lose by 3 with the total foul count 27-13

— Travis Branham (@TravisBranham_) March 16, 2024

Either way, the foul disparity certainly made a major impact on the game. For the most part, the stats between the two teams were just about even; the Buckeyes had a slightly better field goal percentage than the Illini (45% to 42%) while the Illini had slightly more rebounds (44 to 40), but both teams shot exactly 4-of-15 from three, turned the ball over 11 times and had exactly 42 points in the paint with 17 second-chance points.

The one stark difference on the stat sheet was the number of fouls and free throws, as Illinois made 21 free throws on 32 attempts compared to just 10 makes on 13 attempts for the Buckeyes. Ohio State was also without two starters by the end of the game, Felix Okpara and Evan Mahaffey, as a result of them fouling out, with all five of Okpara’s fouls coming in the second half.

That said, the Buckeyes didn’t point the finger at the officials when asked about the loss after the game.

“We were trying to make them miss. We’re not trying to foul, but it was kind of tough because the bigs were getting deep positions on us, so I feel like we should have done a better job pushing them out,” Okpara said in an interview with Bucknuts after the game. “But they kind of did their thing and we just, we didn’t get enough stops to win the game.”