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No. 14 Illinois continues to prove its resiliency and heads to Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday where Ohio State gets another opportunity to gain control of a spiraling season.
After being routed 83-58 at Northwestern on Saturday in a loss that was worse than the score, the Buckeyes (13-7, 3-6 Big Ten) have lost two straight and five of six since Jan. 6.
It conjures memories of a year ago when they lost 14 of 15 from Jan. 5 to Feb. 23.
“We’re really searching for it right now, but I still believe in my teammates and the coaching staff,” Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton said. “We’re just going through a rough patch. We’ve got a lot of games ahead of us, especially a big one at home. We’re going to take advantage of that, get that win and keep rolling after that.”
It won’t be easy against the Fighting Illini (15-5, 6-3).
Unlike the Buckeyes, they have managed to not lose consecutive games this season. Illinois lost 96-91 in overtime at Northwestern on Wednesday but scored the final eight points to defeat Indiana 70-62 on Saturday.
It wasn’t pretty but that mattered little to Illinois coach Brad Underwood.
“We went from probably a more eye-pleasing loss at Northwestern from a fan standpoint and probably (the media) standpoint to a very ugly W,” he said. “Really proud of our guys because you have to win these games. You have to find a way.”
Ohio State would be pressed to take any positives from the Northwestern game. The Buckeyes trailed by 11 at the half but the deficit reached 35 before they made a 12-2 run with the reserves on the court.
“Bottom line we just have to be better,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “Across the board. All of us. Players, coaches, we just have to be better. I believe it’s fixable, and it’s our job to fix it. I definitely think it’s fixable, and we’re going to work like hell to find a way to fix it and certainly be better than what we were (Saturday).”
The Buckeyes are hoping a return to Columbus will provide a boost. The past two games have been on the road where they have lost 14 in a row dating back to last season.
After beating Penn State at home on Jan. 20, the Buckeyes felt they had turned a corner. An 83-69 loss to Nebraska on Jan. 23 and a setback to Northwestern proved otherwise.
“You coach long enough, you have moments that are certainly really humbling and that’s part of being in a profession like this,” Holtmann said. “I don’t think we played nearly this poorly during this (entire) stretch, but we certainly have this last game and a half. We’ve got to figure out how to correct it here quickly.”
The mood on the Illini side is different.
“We’re great. Everybody in the locker room is here for the right purpose and we’re ready for what’s ahead of us,” Illinois forward Luke Goode said. “It’s been a long stretch in January, nine games in January. We’ve been doing that now for what, 20 days?
“So, we’ve got a lot of guys in the locker room that are prepared to take on that challenge and a lot of guys looking out for each other for the right reasons.”
–Field Level Media