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Men's Basketball
Sullinger, Thomas Lift Buckeyes to Tough Win at Illinois
By Brandon CastelCHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It wasn’t as big as the shot Matt Sylvester hit five years ago, but Deshaun Thomas will never forget his game-tying three against Illinois.
The Fighting Illini had built an eight-point lead on the No. 1 team in the country before Thomas and Jon Diebler connected on back-to-back threes to put the Buckeyes back in front by three with less than nine minutes to play.
Thomas swished another three a minute later to give Ohio State a 6-point lead and the top-ranked Buckeyes (20-0, 7-0 Big Ten) held on for a 73-68 win against No. 23 Illinois (14-6, 4-3) in raucous Assembly Hall.
“That’s what I do. I hit big shots,” said Thomas, a freshman out of Indiana.
“I hit big shots in high school and once I hit the first one I knew there was a nine-out-of-10 chance I was going to hit the second one.”
His second three capped a 14-0 run by the Buckeyes, which took them from being down eight with 12:51 to play to being up six just five minutes later.
“Thomas coming in and making the two big three’s when he hadn’t made a three, that’s huge,” Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber said of Thomas, who had not hit a three in six Big Ten games.
“As a coach, you’re almost happy you pressed them when he comes down and shoots a three. You think that’s a good thing, it’s going to bounce off and we’re going to go down to the other end. But he makes it and then he makes another. He’s a good player, but you need somebody to make those special plays when you find a way to win games.”
Thomas finished with eight points in 12 minutes off the bench, but he could not overshadow Jared Sullinger. Even with Illinois determined not to foul him down low, the 6-foot-9 freshman was 13-of-15 from the free throw line.
He finished with a game-high 27 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks in a full 40 minutes of action.
“I said when I recruited him, I said he is probably the best (big man) we have brought in when it comes to the complete package,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said.
“And we have had some pretty good ones come through here. He is a special young man. He is all about winning.”
With Sullinger and Thomas taking care of things at the offensive end, point guard Aaron Craft did his best to disrupt Demetri McCamey at the other end. The senior point guard—and high school teammate of former Buckeye Evan Turner—turned in his worst performance of the season against the Buckeyes.
Thought he came into the game averaging 16.2 points and 7.2 assists per game, McCamey was just 2-of-11 shooting and 1-of-5 behind the arc Saturday. He finished with five points, four rebounds and five assists, but also turned the ball over four times in 31 minutes as he dealt with foul trouble.
“He did a tremendous job of attempting to keep him in check,” Matta said of the freshman out of Findlay.
“As I told him, Demetri may be the best point guard in the country this year. Man, he is special and we're kind of fortunate he didn't have his best game today, but maybe we had something to do with it.”
Along with his defense on McCamey, Craft also hit a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch that turned out to be the difference in the game.
After going back-and-forth in the first half, the Illini held a 34-33 edge at the break thanks to poor shooting by the Buckeyes. They were just 12-of-32 from the floor in the first half, including a combined 7-of-21 from the perimeter players.
Illinois opened the second-half with an easy dunk from center Mike Tisdale and quickly extended their lead to 43-38 on a three by McCamey with 14:30 to play. Mike Davis gave the Illini their largest lead of the game with a free throw that put them up 50-42.
The Buckeyes climbed back to within three with five straight makes at the free throw line before Thomas connected on his first three at the 9:29 mark of the second half. Diebler gave Ohio State the lead with his three from the corner on a great pass from David Lighty, and Thomas put them up six at 56-50, with 7:47 to play in the game.
The game appeared to be all-but-over with the Buckeyes leading by seven with less than a minute to play, but Craft fouled McCamey in transition. He made the basket and missed the free throw, but Tisdale grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a pair of shots from the free throw line.
Sullinger gave the Buckeyes a 4-point lead by hitting one of his two free throws, but it still wasn’t over. McCamey tried to pull up for a three on the next possession, but Craft was in his face. He dumped it off to Tisdale, and the 7-foot-1 center nailed a step-back three to make it a one-point game with 17 seconds to play.
Like they did at Michigan, Craft and William Buford connected on their free throws to ice the victory and keep the undefeated season alive.
“That’s a top-25 team on their home court,” said Jon Diebler, who finished with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
“They’re going to win a lot of games and do really well in the tournament. For us to come out here and escape with a win is big.”
Box Score
Game Play by Play
Season Stats Year to Date
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