No. 17 Ohio State 75, Illinois 67

What happened

A 15-point lead 10 minutes into Sunday’s showdown at Ohio State seemed too good to be true for this Illinois basketball team/program — and it was.

Despite blowing that lead after failing to score for a stretch of 11 minutes and 31 seconds, Illinois led the No. 17 team in the country by three on the road with 5:20 remaining. But like so many times this season, the Illini (12-12, 2-9 Big Ten) failed to close as the Buckeyes went on a 15-4 run to end the game.

Ohio State (20-5, 10-1 Big Ten) out-rebounded Illinois 45-22, outscored Illinois 38-16 in the paint and outscored Illinois 26-12 at the free-throw line.

Keita Bates-Diop continued to assert himself as the Big Ten Player of the Year favorite with a monster double-double (35 points, 13 rebounds). All-Big Ten Freshman candidate Kaleb Wesson also added a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds).

Illinois stayed in the game by sinking 9 (of 28) three-pointers and scoring 16 points off 15 Ohio State turnovers.

Mark Alstork led Illinois with a season-high 19 points (6-for-11 FG) and added three steals. Freshman Trent Frazier scored all 12 of his points in the second half.

After building a 30-15 lead over the first 10 minutes due to hot shooting (11-for-17 to start) and forcing turnovers (nine points off 7 turnovers in the first 10 minutes).

But the Buckeyes then bullied the Illini, going on a 20-0 run over the next 11:31 of playing time to take a 35-30 early in the second half.

During the final 10:11 of the first half, Illinois did not score a point, shot 0-for-9 from the field and turned it over eight times. The Illini scoring drought totaled 11:31, ended by a Trent Frazier three-pointer with 18:40 left in the second half. From the 10:11 mark of the first half until the 15:02 mark of the second half, Illinois shot 1-for-16 from the field.

Leron Black (9 points, 4 rebounds) and Kipper Nichols (9 points, 2 rebounds) both picked up their fourth fouls during the ninth minute of the second half, leaving the Illini thin up front. Yet, Illinois — sparked by Frazier — went small and went on a 9-0 run over the next 2:01 to take a 56-52 lead, thanks to forcing four turnovers during that span.

Illinois maintained a 63-60 lead with 5:20 left thanks to two Frazier jumpers and three points from Alstork. But the Illini missed five free throws during the final eight minutes and missed seven of its last eight field goal attempts.

Bates-Diop tied the game with a three, and after Black and Nichols both fouled out, Ohio State dominated the interior, making four layups and dominating the glass to seal the game.

The Illini are now 2-14 at Value City Arena (where they haven’t won since Feb. 22, 2009) and 3-18 against top-25 teams since 2014-15 season started. They haven’t won a road game against a ranked opponent since March 1, 2004, at Michigan State.

What it means

After a decade of struggles, Illinois basketball fans understandably think Murphy’s Law (“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”). But until these players shake that feeling, this program won’t take the necessary step forward. Ohio State was bound to make its run. The Buckeyes are the No. 17 team in the country and not a fluke. But during the Buckeyes’ big run, the Illini shot themselves in the foot with careless turnovers and allowing offensive issues to seemingly dictate their defensive effort. The Illini had no leadership to stop the bleeding — and no confidence. Again, the toughness to come back is encouraging. But the inability to close — and not foul — is really frustrating. The hope is all these experiences help the Illini in the future, and that Brad Underwood’s recruiting will give Illini a better chance to win these games in the future. But for now, this remains an inconsistent program without the needed poise, leadership and talent to pull of such big wins.

What’s next

Illinois returns home to host Wisconsin for an 8 p.m. Thursday tipoff (BTN). The Badgers (10-15, 3-9 Big Ten) are having their worst season since 1997-98 (12-19), the last time the Badgers missed the NCAA Tournament. But Illinois is the only team Wisconsin has defeated during its last nine games — and the Badgers demolished the Illini 75-50 at Kohl Center just 16 days ago. The Wisconsin offense, only ahead of Rutgers in the Big Ten, sliced and diced the Illini then but haven’t topped 67 points in their four games since.

Box score