Whatever Ohio State had pent up after its recent loss at Michigan, it unleashed from the jump on Illinois tonight.
The eighth-ranked Buckeyes rebounded decisively from their Saturday night setback, building a 20-point lead on the Fighting Illini in the first 10 minutes and cruising to an 83-67 victory in Value City Arena.
Ohio State shot 65.3 percent from the field, making 32 of 49 shots, including 7 of 13 from three-point range.
Deshaun Thomas led Ohio State (23-5, 11-4 Big Ten) with 19 points, and William Buford scored 17. Aaron Craft added 11 points, five assists and three steals while playing more off the ball as coach Thad Matta made Shannon Scott the first guard off the bench and played him 22 minutes. Scott did not score but had four assists, a steal and three rebounds.
Jared Sullinger, OSU's leading scorer on the season, finished with nine points and six rebounds before fouling out with five minutes left. It was his first disqualification of the season and second of his career.
Meyers Leonard led Illinois (16-12, 5-10) with 21 points.
Ohio State made 11 of its first 12 shots from the field and burst to a 28-8 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. The Buckeyes made 17 of 24 shots in the first half and finished it with a 42-26 lead.
Illinois shot only 29.6 percent from the field but outscored Ohio State 18-14 the last 10:19 of the half to reduce its deficit. The Illini never got closer in the second half as the Buckeyes outscored them 11-6 from the outset and built their lead to more than 20 points for much of the final 10 minutes.
Illinois’ deficit was 17 points when Sullinger went to the bench with 11:03 remaining, but Evan Ravenel replaced him and was effective at both ends as Ohio State rebuilt its lead to 24 points before Sullinger returned.
The Buckeyes will play their final home game of the season at 4 p.m. Sunday against Wisconsin.
bbaptist@dispatch.com
The eighth-ranked Buckeyes rebounded decisively from their Saturday night setback, building a 20-point lead on the Fighting Illini in the first 10 minutes and cruising to an 83-67 victory in Value City Arena.
Ohio State shot 65.3 percent from the field, making 32 of 49 shots, including 7 of 13 from three-point range.
Deshaun Thomas led Ohio State (23-5, 11-4 Big Ten) with 19 points, and William Buford scored 17. Aaron Craft added 11 points, five assists and three steals while playing more off the ball as coach Thad Matta made Shannon Scott the first guard off the bench and played him 22 minutes. Scott did not score but had four assists, a steal and three rebounds.
Jared Sullinger, OSU's leading scorer on the season, finished with nine points and six rebounds before fouling out with five minutes left. It was his first disqualification of the season and second of his career.
Meyers Leonard led Illinois (16-12, 5-10) with 21 points.
Ohio State made 11 of its first 12 shots from the field and burst to a 28-8 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. The Buckeyes made 17 of 24 shots in the first half and finished it with a 42-26 lead.
Illinois shot only 29.6 percent from the field but outscored Ohio State 18-14 the last 10:19 of the half to reduce its deficit. The Illini never got closer in the second half as the Buckeyes outscored them 11-6 from the outset and built their lead to more than 20 points for much of the final 10 minutes.
Illinois’ deficit was 17 points when Sullinger went to the bench with 11:03 remaining, but Evan Ravenel replaced him and was effective at both ends as Ohio State rebuilt its lead to 24 points before Sullinger returned.
The Buckeyes will play their final home game of the season at 4 p.m. Sunday against Wisconsin.
bbaptist@dispatch.com
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