Illinois hands Ohio State potentially damaging hardwood loss

PISCATAWAY, NJ - JANUARY 09: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts during the second half a game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 9, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Ohio State 64-61. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Credit: Rich Schultz

Credit: Rich Schultz

PISCATAWAY, NJ - JANUARY 09: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts during the second half a game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 9, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Ohio State 64-61. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Sports
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Feb 15, 2019
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Illinois snapped Ohio State’s three-game winning streak with a 63-56 decision Thursday night at Value City Arena.

The Fighting Illini, who entered the game tied with Penn State for the fewest overall wins in the Big Ten this season, picked up their 10th win of the season while handing the Buckeyes (16-8, 6-7) their worst loss.

Illinois (10-15, 6-8) led by as many as nine, but Duane Washington Jr. put the Buckeyes on top with a crowd-pleasing and-1 dunk with 8:30 to go in the second half.

That was as good as it got for the Buckeyes, who fell behind again 15 seconds later on a pair of free throws by Ayo Dosunmu.

Ohio State’s C.J. Jackson led all scorers with 17 points while Kaleb Wesson added 11 and Andre Wesson had 10 for the Buckeyes.

Dosunmu and Trent Frazier led Illinois with 15 points apiece.

Ohio State entered the night looking like a solid candidate for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but five of their last seven regular season games are against teams currently in the top 25.

That stretch begins Sunday with a trip to No. 11 Michigan State.

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Marcus Hartman has been a digital sports columnist and reporter at Cox's Ohio newspapers the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal-News since 2016.