Illinois Downs Ohio State, 69-60

The Illini came to play defensively, making six blocks and four steals, while Illinois dominated on the glass, outrebounding Ohio State, 44-30. The hosts grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and scored 13 second-chance points, and the Illini made 16 fast-break points while holding the Buckeyes to just one.

"I was very pleased defensively tonight," said head coach Brad Underwood. "I thought everybody came in and did a nice job tonight defensively against a very talented offensive team."

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a game-high 17 points in the win, including 12 in the first half. Shannon made all nine of his free-throw attempts, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out three assists, and notched one steal.

Jayden Epps made the second start of his career, recording 14 points, his 13th game with double-digit points this season. Epps also tallied two rebounds and one assist.

Matthew Mayer hit two 3-pointers en route to 12 points, while he grabbed eight rebounds and made two blocks.

Coleman Hawkins shot 60% from the field and registered 11 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and a team-high three blocks, his highest defensive mark since Dec. 6.

Ty Rodgers scored four points off the bench and grabbed eight rebounds, tying his career-best mark.

Hawkins opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, his eighth straight game with a triple. Both teams registered early 7-0 runs, though the Illini led by four halfway through the opening frame after holding the Buckeyes without a field goal for nearly six minutes.

With six minutes to play in the first half, Illinois extended its advantage to double digits, using an 11-2 run to extend its lead to 11 points. The Illini eventually took a 34-26 lead into halftime, led by 12 points from Terrence Shannon Jr. and two Matthew Mayer triples.

The Illini returned from halftime with lots of energy and took advantage of strong defense to open the frame on a 4-0 run. Ohio State cut its deficit to single digits, but Illinois did not let that last long. The Illini used a 10-0 run that featured two Jayden Epps 3-pointers and two Dain Dainja 2-pointers to send State Farm Center into a frenzy and push their lead to 48-31 with 15 minutes to play.

Illinois continued to battle, using an 8-3 run to push its advantage back up to double digits. Holding the Buckeyes without a field goal for over five minutes, the Illini used dunks from Coleman Hawkins and Ty Rodgers to take a 16-point lead with six minutes remaining.

With the nine-point victory, the Illini have now won five of their last six games and improve to 5-4 in conference play. Illinois (14-6, 5-4) will travel north for its next contest, taking on Wisconsin (12-6, 4-4) in Madison on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.