Illinois Basketball Bounces Back With Pivotal Win Over Ohio State

The Illini muscled up, banged around the Buckeyes' and (for now) recovered their footing

Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr. (21) throws down a dunk in Illinois' 87-79 win oer Ohio State on Sunday at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. / University of Illinois athletics

If No. 18 Illinois was going to start turning its season back around, it was almost certainly going to need a hand from its freshmen.

But with streaking Ohio State in Champaign on Sunday, Will Riley and Morez Johnson Jr. didn't just offer a hand – they threw the Illini on their backs and galloped to what may be remembered as a pivotal 87-79 win over the Buckeyes.

Riley exploded for 20 of his 24 points in the second half, Johnson had 14 points and 15 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, and they combined to key a 40-18 run that spun around an 11-point deficit and sent the Buckeyes packing.

The Illini (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten) celebrated the healthy return of center Tomislav Ivisic (mono) by outrebounding Ohio State 43-31 and hammering the Buckeyes (13-9, 5-6) inside – especially in the second half. Illinois outscored the visitors 52-30 in the paint.

Morez working to bring the whole house down 👀 pic.twitter.com/0SMjQaOY2w

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) February 2, 2025

Illinois' increasingly painful three-point-shooting struggles continued Sunday (4-for-20, 20 percent), but the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight got wise and found a much easier target when shooting from point-blank range. Johnson's beast-mode performance – including seven offensive rebounds and several putback dunks – and Ivisic's efficiency inside (4-for-6 shooting inside the arc) helped keep the Illini afloat when it appeared for all the world that they were going under.

A stronger defensive effort in the second half – Ohio State was held to 30.6 percent shooting after the break – was another difference-maker, as Kasparas Jakucionis, Kylan Boswell, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and others did an excellent job of contesting shots. Roughly midway through the half, with the Illini still trailing by two, Buckeyes guard John Mobley Jr. curled around a pick to find daylight – until the 6-foot-6 Jakucionis came soaring in to snuff it.

But the day belonged to Riley. His three-pointer and three-point play on back-to-back possessions tied the game at 59 with 10:48, and his 6-for-6 shooting from the free-throw line over the final 2:11 helped prevent any late-game OSU heroics.

Boswell chipped in 14 points and Ivisic matched Johnson's double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) for the Illini, who ended the Buckeyes' three-game win streak and gained some footing with a rocky remaining Big Ten schedule still ahead.

OSU's Royal led the game with 29 points.

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