The Ohio State Buckeyes are now in the thick of crunch time in Big Ten season play. While Ohio State has effectively punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament already with a stellar 25-2 record this season, other teams have found themselves dropped in the bucket of bubble teams, fighting for a spot in the Big Dance. The Fighting Illini of Illinois are one such team, and having already picked up one L against the Buckeyes this season, our rivals from Champaign will be fighting (as their name suggests) to avoid a second L when they visit Columbus on Tuesday night. Short of a Big Ten Tournament championship, nothing would bolster Illinois’ tournament resume more than a victory over Ohio State at this point.
Ohio State’s first game against Illinois occurred exactly one month ago on January 22nd, and at the time was a hugely anticipated game for the Buckeyes. Entering the game at 19-0, the away contest at Illinois was predicted by many to be the first game that Ohio State would drop. While it got dicey at times, the Scarlet & Gray pulled out the victory. Eric’s recap of that game can be viewed here, and the other essential info on this year’s Illini squad can be viewed in the prior game’s preview here.
Since January 22nd, Illinois has truly been an up-and-down team. They followed the loss to Ohio State with a loss at Indiana, then established a consistent win-loss-win pattern for the subsequent six games on their schedule. While Illinois is a solid club, they perfectly represent the challenge of playing in the Big Ten this season, where no game is an easy win.
Illinois has definitely struggled on the road this season. 5 of their last 7 losses have come in away games, with the two home losses coming at the hands of Ohio State and Purdue. Part of the reason for Illinois’ difficulties comes from inconsistent shooting, as the losses at Indiana and more recently at Michigan State saw the Illini shooting under 38% from the field.
Make no mistake, Illinois could still find their way into the tournament. Senior Mike Davis has been a bright spot for the team, consistently posting solid numbers and leading the team in scoring the majority of the time through the last seven games since Ohio State. Brandon Paul has also posted some impressive scoring nights. It’s really seniors Demetri McCamey and Mike Tisdale that need to step up their games, and if this occurs then Illinois will once again be a dangerous team, and potentially a tough matchup if granted a tournament seeding in the 9-10 range. Coach Bruce Weber brought McCamey off the bench a few weeks ago against Minnesota to provide a different look, but the change did not seem to truly jump start the talented point guard, at least to date.
Playing at home on Tuesday, look for Ohio State to run whenever possible and seek to pound the ball inside. The best way to negate Tisdale will be to have him sitting on the bench in foul trouble. It will be important for the Buckeyes to keep Davis off the boards and be the quicker team to the loose balls. After beating Illinois at their court, there is no reason Ohio State can’t have a repeat performance at home if they handle these fundamental aspects of the game.
Tipoff for the game will be at 7:00pm, and the game will be aired on ESPN.
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