It’s going to be hard to win games in March if you can’t find a way to close them out. Ohio State played through some sloppy play to take control of the game against Illinois with under four minutes left. From there, the Illini made more plays down the stretch and came out with a 73-68 win. It made more plays because Ohio State failed to make any. It finished the last 3:48 of the game without a single point, and that did the Buckeyes in.
With the loss, OSU is locked in as the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a chance at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is likely out the window. There’s still a real possibility for a No. 2 seed, but that’s for another day.
With the win, Illinois has now won eleven of its last twelve games and will finish No. 2 in the Big Ten as it heads to Indy. For Ohio State, it’s another “what if” scenario with few answers here as of late.
Here are three things we took away from this game.