EJ Liddell supported the court and flexed, his eyes directed directly at Giorgi Bezhanishvili, who decided to chirp for him a little earlier in his Saturday afternoon showdown in Champaign, Illinois.
The paint bucket – during which he appeared to have been hacked but did not miss – gave EJ Liddell a new scoring career record and placed No. 21 Ohio State ahead of No. 14 Illinois by 14 points with a little less than 10 minutes remaining. The Illini, chosen in the preseason to win the Big Ten, did what they could, increasing their rate of forced sales and putting Kofi Cockburn in the offensive glass. Even so, the Buckeyes refused to allow the game to escape.
Despite entering the day as a seven-point underdog, Ohio State secured an 87-81 victory in Illinois, extending its winning streak to three games. He improved his record to 11-3 this season and 5-3 in the Big Ten game.
A 3-point basket from Illinois guard Jacob Grandison reduced Buckeye’s lead to five points with 1:30 remaining. After a free throw from Justice Sueing and a Cockburn tray, it became a four-point lead in Ohio with 48 seconds remaining, and then Illini started to miss. They came and went, each going to the line several times on the stretch before the Buckeyes guaranteed victory.
Liddell ended the game with 26 points, his career record, scoring 3 more points on Saturday – four – than in his first 13 games of the season together. Seth Towns tied his best season with 11 points. Justin Ahrens also scored 11 points, which included a trio of 3s in the second half when Ohio needed him.
Dosunmu, candidate for the All-American title team, led the Illini with 22 points, along with his five assists and four hits. Ohio made him and the Kofi Cockburn center work on their buckets all afternoon. Cockburn hit all the field shots, scoring 15 points and 11 hits for the team.
Ohio skyrocketed, with Liddell’s five points kicking off a 10-point streak that put visitors at eight points in two and a half minutes. Although Illinois struggled to draw, leading to a 15-15 draw with just over seven minutes of play, the Buckeyes had another spark.
A pair of Justice Sueing free throws at the 7:31 mark of the first jump time began a 15-0 run that included a Towns mid-range jump off the jump, a 3-point Meechie Johnson and eight consecutive points from Liddell whose 3s in a row culminated in the explosion to put Ohio State at the top, 30-15, just after the midpoint of the first half.
Illinois failed to close the gap before the break, scoring 13 points in the last 12 minutes.
The two areas that helped the Buckeyes in their first 20 minutes were their external pitches and glass work – both Illini strengths. They hit 7 of 11 behind the 3-point arc in the first half. Liddell equaled the season’s total of three, hitting 3s in the first 11 minutes of the game, and Towns added a pair of trebles. Ohio State also maintained a 20-11 lead in the rebound department, which included a 6-3 lead on offensive exchanges. This led to eight second-chance points in the first half for Ohio, compared to zero for Illinois.
Next: The Buckeyes return to Columbus to face Purdue at 6:30 pm Tuesday at the Schottenstein Center for the second time this season, after losing 67-60 at West Lafayette on December 16.
Other notes
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The team’s only two veteran shipowners – CJ Walker and Jimmy Sotos – remained unavailable due to injuries. Walker is dealing with torn ligaments in his right hand and Sotos has a shoulder injury. The estimated date of return remains unknown.
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The state of Ohio has not changed its top five. Chris Holtmann once again rolled with Duane Washington Jr., Judge Sueing, Justin Ahrens, EJ Liddell and Kyle Young.
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Ibrahima Diallo (twisted MCL) is also out of the foreseeable future. He’s not practicing.