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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Phil Harrison

Ohio State basketball continues slide, loses to Illinois at home

Things have clearly gone the wrong way for the Ohio State basketball team … again. The road woes are well-chronicled, but now the Buckeyes can’t even get a victory at home, losing to the Illinois Fighting Illini by a score of 87-75 on Tuesday night.

The game was close throughout most of the first half, but once the Illini separated on a run to close the first twenty minutes, they never looked back. Defensively, it’s going to hard to win Big Ten ballgames without playing at a high level, and allowing almost 90 points doesn’t qualify for the level necessary.

The Buckeyes didn’t get blown away by anything Illinois did stat-wise, but the culmination of losing the rebounding battle, shooting percentage, and free throw percentage all combined to hand another L on the record, one that is quickly headed towards .500 overall.

Ohio State had three players in double figures with Jamison Battle leading the way with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Roddy Gayle Jr. poured in 20 points, while Evan Mahaffey scored 13.

With the loss, Ohio State’s overall record drops to 13-8 and its Big Ten record falls to 3-7. The road doesn’t get any easier from here on out with a trip to Iowa on tap for Friday. Yes, in a twist of fate, that’s Groundhog Day, which pretty much sums up where we are with this program right now.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

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