The Illinois Fighting Illini (19-8, 12-5 B1G) were unable to keep pace with Purdue & Wisconsin in the Big Ten title race, losing 86-83 to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday night in Champaign.
While the loss itself won’t mar Illinois’ NCAA Tournament aspirations, it did continue a discouraging pattern of recent play.
This was from TCR’s recap of last Saturday’s win versus Michigan State:
While the game had a thrilling finish...we can’t forget that the Illini had a 16-point lead at one point in the second half.