Illinois Grabs Big Ten Tourney Title in OT Thriller Over Ohio State

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The quality of play in the Big Ten was at a high level all season, so it should come as no surprise that it continued in the conference title game Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

And it was so good that 40 minutes wasn't enough to determine a winner. Illinois needed an extra five minutes of overtime to final get past Ohio State, winning 91-88 for their first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005 and for just the third time in school history. Ohio State, which needed three wins in three days over teams that had beaten them during the regular season just to get to the final, gave the Illini all they could handle.

This Illini journey from worst to first in just a few quick years was satisfying for guard Ayo Dosunmu, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He talked about that journey afterward.

"Well, really it's just remembering the days when we weren't really good, and the days where you'd always see people on Twitter talk about how we weren't good and they'd talk about Coach Underwood,'' Dosunmu said while cradling the tournament trophy. "And, you know, you’d just see people say certain things. And then to get this right here [holds up Big Ten Tournament trophy]. Like, I got it. This, this is what it all means.

"We put all the work in to grab this trophy right here. In my mind, I was just thinking of all the people that doubted us. And also thinking about all of the true fans who've been there supporting us through it all. So, to be able to really know that we really earned this. This is ours. It feels good.''

Ohio State won its first three games in the tournament by grabbing big leads and then hanging on for dear life down the stretch. But they flipped the script Sunday, falling behind by double-digits early in the first half but then rallying to put together a dramatic ending.

Ohio State couldn't make anything early. They had only one field goal in 16 attempts in the first 12 minutes and were behind 27-10 at one point. It looked like the rout was on.

But once the Buckeyes got hot, they stayed hot, and Duane Washington Jr. was right in the middle of the comeback. Ohio State, which hit 25 of its next 40 shots, cut the lead to five by halftime at 40-35.

Illinois went on another run early in the second half, and they did it with starting center Kofi Cockburn on the bench after he picked up his third foul very early in the second half. Georgi Bezhanishvili and Andre Curbelo made several big plays to get Illinois back up by 11.

But Ohio State kept battling, and when Washington hit a three-pointer with 6:11 to go, the game was tied at 65. C.J. Walker scored to give the Buckeyes the lead, but then Illinois quickly answered with seven straight points.

With two minutes left, Illinois went up by six on an Ayo Dosunmu three-pointer, but then Washington struck again with another three, and Justice Sueing scored inside and was fouled, making the free throw to tie the game at 77. Dosunmu missed a contested three with four seconds to go, and Cockburn got the rebound but missed a short shot at the rim, forcing overtime.

Ohio State went up 81-80 with 2:51 left in overtime, but then Illinois scored seven straight points to take control. Ohio State got no closer than four points, and they lost by three when Walker hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Washington finished with a career-high 32 points for the Buckeyes. Sueing had 22 and Walker had 12 points off the bench. E.J. Liddell, who had to battle all day with Cockburn on the defensive end, struggled offensively. He was just 3-for-16 and 0-for-7 from three, scoring just 12 points.

Illinois had six players in double figures, including all three bench guys. Curbelo had 16, Da'MonteWilliams had 13 and Bezhanishvili had 12. Cockburn and Dosunmu had 16 each and Trent Frazier had 10.

"It took six guys in double figures and a couple of really good plays down the stretch to get a win,'' a jubilant Brad Underwood said after the game. "That was an elite college basketball game, just an elite college basketball game. Both teams played hard. Both teams were amped and geared up for a championship game, and I think everybody witnessed that.''

"Big hats off to our bench. They were huge, and I thought they were the difference in today's game. Six guys in double figures, we'll take that every single night. Curbelo was big down the stretch. Da’Monte Williams was huge down the stretch. I was just really pleased with the overall effort of our team.''

Big Ten Tournament

Here is the complete Big Ten Tournament schedule, with game times and television information:

Wednesday, March 10 (First Round)

Game 1 – Minnesota 51, Northwestern 46
Game 2 – Penn State 72, Nebraska 66

Thursday, March 11 (Second Round)

Game 3 – Maryland 68, Michigan State 57
Game 4 – Ohio State 79, Minnesota 75
Game 5 – Rutgers 61, Indiana 50
Game 6 – Wisconsin 75, Penn State 74

Friday, March 12 (Quarterfinals)

Game 7 – Michigan 79, Maryland 66
Game 8 – Ohio State 87, Purdue 79 (OT)
Game 9 –Illinois 90. Rutgers 61
Game 10 – Iowa 62, Wisconsin 57

Saturday, March 13 (Semifinals)

Game 11 – Ohio State 68, Michigan 67
Game 12 – Illinois 82, Iowa 71

Sunday, March 14 (Finals)

Game 13 – Illinois 91, Ohio State 88 (OT)

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