Except for the outcome, there was no resemblance between the one-sided game that No. 10 Illinois and No. 19 Ohio State played Sunday and the dramatic game they played on the last day of the 2005 Big Ten season in the same arena.
In last year’s game Ohio State led only once–when Matt Sylvester hit a 3-point shot with 5.1 seconds to play that gave the Buckeyes a 1-point victory and dealt the Illini their first loss of the season.
On Sunday, the outside shooting of guards Je’Kel Foster and Jamar Butler combined with a powerful low-post performance by Terence Dials, the Buckeyes surged to a big early lead and never let Illinois get within striking distance in scoring a compelling 69-53 victory.
The decisive victory enabled the Buckeyes (18-3, 7-3) to take over second place behind Iowa (19-6, 8-3) in what’s still a seven-team Big Ten race.
The Illini (20-4, 6-4) fell into a fourth-place tie with preseason favorite Michigan State (18-6, 6-4) after losing two games in a row for first time in more than two years. Sunday’s loss was their worst loss since they fell 70-53 to Wisconsin in the championship game of the 2004 Big Ten tournament.
Dee Brown was Illinois’ high scorer with 12 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Fellow senior James Augustine had 11 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals. But he scored all of his points in the first half and was limited to two shots in the second half.
