Ohio State basketball heads into Big Ten Tournament on four-game losing streak after 73-68 loss to Illinois

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State will limp into the Big Ten Tournament on a four-game losing streak after a 73-68 loss at home to Illinois.

With 44.7 seconds left, Ayo Dosunmu (19 points) drove to the basket for a lay-up while drawing a foul on Justice Sueing. That call gave Sueing his fifth foul as he finished with 15 points and eight rebounds while Dosunmu complete the three-point play.

The play gave Illinois the lead for good, as OSU failed to score a point in the game’s final 3:48 after taking a 68-64 lead. The Buckeyes missed their last 10 shots.

Despite first-half struggles from leading scorer E.J. Liddell and a hot shooting performance by the Illini — 62 percent from the field — the Buckeyes went into the half down by just four points, 41-37.

Liddell’s first-half struggles disappeared in the second half, finishing with 19 points before going as cold as his teammates in the final minutes. A three-pointer gave OSU a 63-59 lead. His final basket, also a three, came almost two minutes later for OSU’s final points. Duane Washington joined Liddell and Sueing in double figures with 15 points, though the bulk of that came in the first 10 minutes of the game.

Andre Curbelo joined Dosunmu as Illinois’ leading scorer with 19 points off the bench, while center Kofi Cockburn added 12 points.

Ohio State has played Illinois, Iowa and Michigan five times this season, each time in a top-10 matchup. Outside of a blowout loss to the Hawkeyes, each has played out the same way. The game came down to execution in the final four minutes.

Maintain the offense in the final minutes, wins have followed. Falter, and it’s a loss. Coming off of its worst week of the regular season, they didn’t just need a win to end a losing streak. They needed a quality win with a tournament feel that could translate into postseason momentum.

That wasn’t accomplished Saturday, and now every game will carry high stakes the rest of the way.

Ohio State finishes as the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament. The Buckeyes will play Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Minnesota and Northwestern.

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