Illinois blitzes Buckeyes
Derrick Smith
Sports editor
Illinois didn't show any signs of rust after a week off. Illinois outshot, out-muscled, and out-hustled Ohio State in the first 10 minutes of Sunday afternoon's game at Assembly Hall and never looked back. The Illini notched a 76-57 win and climbed back in to the thick of the Big Ten race.
"I think the game was lost within the first eight minutes," Ohio State head coach Jim O'Brien said. "You have to give all the credit to Illinois. They seemingly came out like gangbusters. They got all over us."
The Illini jumped ahead to a 17-1 lead and didn't allow a Buckeye field-goal until the 12:15 mark of the first half.
"We came out with a lot more passion on the defensive end," senior forward Brian Cook said. "We really pressured them out of their sets in the first half."
Ohio State was playing without 7-foot center Velimir Radinovic, who was out with an injured pinkie finger. The undersized Buckeyes couldn't establish their offense against the suffocating Illini defense. Illinois' frontcourt trapped Ohio State's postmen, forcing the ball to the perimeter and keeping Cook and James Augustine out of foul trouble. The Buckeyes shot only 24 percent in the first half and committed eight turnovers.
"They were trapping with 6'10'' and 6'11'' against 6'6'' and 6'7''," O'Brien said. "It was tough for us to see over their traps."
Illinois' defense set the stage for its offense. The Illini hit a season-high 12 three-pointers and shot 50 percent from the field. Freshman guard Deron Williams was impressive from beyond the arc scoring all 12 of his points from long range on 4-for-7 shooting.
The second half was a different story for Illinois. The Illini led by as many as 32 in the second half, but were sloppy from there on. The Buckeyes cut the Illini lead down to 16 with 7:58 to play thanks to a 14-0 run.
"The last 15 minutes was probably the worst 15 minutes of basketball we have played this year," Self said. "But still, the first 20, 25 may have been the best we've played all year."
Ohio State senior guard Brent Darby scored 20 points for the Buckeyes but was only 6-for-21 from the field.
Cook paced Illinois with 22 points and five rebounds as he was one of four Illini players in double figures. Cook thought the Illini had something to prove Sunday.
"The past two years Ohio State has kind of ended our season," Cook said. "Last year they beat us in the Big Ten tournament and the year before that they took away us winning the Big Ten outright. So me, Sean and Blandon wanted to let the young guys know that this was a game we needed."
Sophomore forward Roger Powell was perfect from the floor and scored 14 points in his second consecutive strong performance off the bench for Illinois. Luther Head contributed 11 points.
The Illinois victory puts it one game out of first place in the Big Ten. First place Purdue dropped its second game in conference to Minnesota on Saturday, bringing them into a tie for first place with Michigan.
"We know we have to protect our homecourt to stay in the Big Ten race," Cook said. "We're just trying to take it one game at a time and get better each game."
Illinois has the week off before traveling to West Lafayette for a showdown with Purdue on Saturday.
Send letters to 
Printer-friendly version