COLUMBUS — A quick offensive start ultimately gave way to another disappointing finish as Ohio State extended its losing streak to three with an 87-75 loss to Illinois on Tuesday in Value City Arena.
Jamison Battle led the Buckeyes with 21 points, and Roddy Gayle Jr. added 20, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome a porous defensive effort that saw Illinois shoot 52% from the field en route to the 12-point win.
Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask entered the game as Illinois’ leading scorers, and the duo didn’t disappoint as they tied for the game-high with 23 points each.
In addition to losing three straight, Ohio State has now lost six of its last seven while dropping to 13-8 overall and 3-7 in Big Ten play. Tuesday’s defeat marks the third consecutive game the Buckeyes have lost by double-digit margins.
Ohio State jumped out to a 21-18 lead midway through the first half thanks to an encouraging shooting performance that saw the Buckeyes connect on nine of their first 15 shots.
The lead held at three with 7:39 remaining in the half as Evan Mahaffey’s three-point play gave Ohio State a 26-23 lead, continuing Ohio State’s success getting to the rim. However, familiar issues began to surface again for Ohio State as a lengthy scoring drought marred a promising offensive start and put the Buckeyes in a hole.
Battle’s layup at the 6:47 mark was the final field goal of the half for the Buckeyes as they missed on nine of their final 10 shots of the half. The layup temporarily gave Ohio State its largest lead of the half at 28-23, but Illinois outscored Ohio State 18-6 over the final six minutes to take a 41-34 lead into halftime.
Illinois (16-5, 7-3) quickly pushed the lead to double digits a minute into the second half, and Ohio State never truly threatened again as stops proved difficult to find. A three-point play from Gayle and a basket from Evan Mahaffey temporarily cut the Illinois lead to six points at 50-44, but that’s as close as the Buckeyes would get.
A 6-0 Illinois run quickly pushed the lead back to 12 points, and it ballooned to as many as 16 on Shannon’s three-point play as the Illini cruised to the road win.
Following the game, Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann lamented his team’s defensive effort on a night where his offense played well enough to win. “We have to be nastier and play with more force,” he said of his defense’s shortcomings.
Asked if he believes the defense can still improve with the time left in the season, Holtmann said, “We better … We have to get way better on that end right now. We have to be way more committed than we are right now, whether it’s zone or man, it doesn’t matter right now.”
Ohio State will look to move past a miserable January and begin February on the right note as it travels to take on Iowa on Friday night. The Buckeyes will also attempt to end a string of 14 consecutive road losses dating back to last season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.
As the losses continue to mount, Holtmann said his team must improve mentally if the Buckeyes are going to stop the bleeding.
“I don’t think right now we’re responding great to adversity,” Holtmann said. “We have to get back to handling the adversity of the game better … That’s the biggest thing for us as players and coaches. When a team makes a little bit of a run, can you respond better? That’s something this team can get better at for sure.”
Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.
