What happened

For the first time this season, Illinois basketball is feasting on some satisfying roadkill.

The Illini upset Ohio State 63-56 on Thursday for their first true road victory in seven tries this season and their first win at Value City Arena since 2009.

After starting Big Ten play 1-7, Illinois (10-15, 6-8 Big Ten) has now won five of six (including four straight) and is tied with Minnesota for eighth place in a 14-team league. The Illini are just a half game behind the Buckeyes (16-8, 6-7 Big Ten) for seventh place in the conference.

The Illini didn't play their prettiest or best basketball, but they surely don't care after earning just the second conference road win under second-year head coach Brad Underwood.

Illinois locked down an Ohio State team that had shot 46.6 percent from three during its previous three-game win streak. The Buckeyes shot a Big Ten-worst 36.2 percent from the field, including 2-for-13 from three. Ohio State made just four of its last 18 shot attempts during the final 13 minutes. The Illini also forced the Buckeyes into 18 turnovers.

Ayo Dosunmu, who hit a game-sealing 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, led Illinois with 15 points. Trent Frazier, who had a knee injury scare late in the first half but returned in the first half, also had 15 points. Giorgi Bezhanishvili scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. He also had a team-high seven blocks and a career-high four blocks.

Illinois held Ohio State leading scorer Kaleb Wesson to just 11 points, and he fouled out with 2:19 left with Andres Feliz (9 points and 6 rebounds off the bench) drawing his last two fouls. CJ Jackson led Ohio State with 17 points.

Illinois missed its first three shots and got down 7-3. But they made 7 of their next 10 shots to claim a 15-12 lead. The Illini then extended the lead to 27-18 with a 10-2 run, led by eight points (including two made 3-pointers) by Trent Frazier.

But Frazier bumped knees with Kaleb Wesson with 2:29 remaining in the first half, putting a scare into the Illini — and Illinois went the final 4:21 without a field goal, allowing Ohio State to trim the lead to 30-27 at halftime.

But Frazier returned to start the second half. Yet, it was Bezhanishvili again who took over in the second half. After scoring 29 of his freshman-record 35 points against Rutgers in the second half and overtime, Bezhanishvili scored the Illini’s first seven points of the second half. Frazier then showed he was healthy with another made 3-pointer to grow the lead to 40-33.

But Ohio State responded with a 7-0 run as Illinois got sloppy on offense as Ohio State double-teamed Bezhanishvili. Illinois had four turnovers and five missed shots during a 5-minute, 16-second scoreless drought.

The Illini got much-needed offensive output from Andres Feliz with two fastbreak layups. But Ohio State reclaimed the lead with back-to-back dunks and a free throw. from Duane Washington Jr.

The game continued to spiral into ugliness as both teams missed buckets around the rim, including a wide-open transition layup missed by Dosunmu. But the freshman made a huge 3-pointer on a possession going nowhere to give Illinois a 51-46 cushion with 5:15 remaining. The Illini’s three best players then continued to make big plays to close out the win. Frazier hit a long two. Dosunmu made a ridiculously great pass to Bezhanishvili for a layup, and Bezhanishvili blocked a shot on the other end.

The Illini closed it out defensively — because offensively, it missed three of five free throws during a key stretch — holding Ohio State without a field goal from the 4:56 mark to the 1:37 mark. Frazier then found Feliz for an open layup with 1:13 left to keep a two-possession cushion.

Dosunmu then sealed the game, like he did against Michigan State, with an NBA-range 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining.

What it means

As ugly as this one was, it was another huge sign of growth for Illinois. Illinois didn’t play its best or prettiest basketball, but Illinois grinded a way to a win against a top-half Big Ten team — something that it simply hasn’t done previously during the Brad Underwood era (Illinois entered Thursday 1-15 on the road the last two seasons with its lone win at Rutgers). Three weeks ago, Illinois looked doubtful to top 10 wins this season and looked to be in a battle to stay out of the last-place spot in the conference. After five wins in six games, Illinois has a chance to finish .500 or better in conference play and place among secure a top-half seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

What’s next

Illinois has the weekend off before traveling to Wisconsin on Tuesday. Illinois hasn’t won in Madison since 2010, losing seven straight games at Kohl Center by an average of 17.7 points per game. After a 72-60 loss to the Badgers in Champaign last month, the Illini have now lost 14 straight games to Wisconsin. Last month, the Illini did limit Big Ten Player of the Year candidate Ethan Happ to a season-low nine points and forced him into six turnovers.

Box score