Saturday's Big Ten: Liddell scores 26 as Ohio State outslugs Illinois

Champaign, Ill. — E.J. Liddell scored 26 points and No. 21 Ohio State beat No. 14 Illinois 87-81 in a brutal Big Ten matchup on Saturday.

The game was especially physical in the second half. One technical was called, on Ohio State’s Duane Washington Jr., and the officials had to step in many times to avoid fights.

Illinois, often mentioned as a possible Final Four team, sustained back-to-back losses for the first time this season.

“We had tremendous respect for this Illinois team and came in knowing they were coming off a tough loss (to unranked Maryland),” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “It’s obviously a win we feel proud of and are excited about.”

Washington, Justin Ahrens and Seth Towns each added 11 for Ohio State (11-3, 5-3). The Buckeyes were missing injured guards C.J. Walker and Jimmy Sotos.

Ayo Dosunmu led Illinois (9-5, 5-3) with 22 points. Kofi Cockburn scored 15 and freshman Adam Miller added 14 points for the Illini.

Illinois closed to 83-81 with 15.5 seconds left on a long 3-pointer by Miller.

On the Buckeyes’ inbound pass, replays showed Washington clearly stepped out of bounds with the ball. But a foul was called on Trent Frazier and Washington sank both free throws to make it 85-81.

“I didn’t get a chance to look at it,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “It’s not a reviewable play anyway.”

Ohio State scored 10 straight points for a 10-2 lead. In a first half marked by runs and inconsistent play, the Buckeyes led 43-28 at the break.