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ILLINOIS LINKS: GAME NOTES | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS

BIG TEN TOURNAMENT: TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | BRACKET

No. 13 Illinois travels to Minneapolis as the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The Illini open play Friday (5:30 p.m. CT, BTN) in the Quarterfinal round against No. 10 seed Ohio State.

Orange and Blue News previews the game, including probable starters, keys to the game, and a prediction.

#13ap/14 Illinois // 23-8 Overall, 14-6 Big Ten vs. Ohio

No. 2 Seed // Big Ten Tournament // Minneapolis, Minn. // Target Center

Quarterfinal vs. Ohio State // Friday, March 15, 2024 // 5:30 p.m. CT

TV: BTN – Brandon Gaudin (Play-By-Play), Robbie Hummel (Analyst), Andy Katz (Sideline)

Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas (Analyst)

National Radio: Compass Media Networks – Matt Smith (Play-By-Play), Mike Wozniak (Analyst) // Satellite Radio: SiriusXM – 84

Illinois is the No. 2 seed in the BTT for the fifth time. The Illini are 8-2 all-time as the No. 2 seed, winning championships in 2003 and 2021, and advancing to the semifinals in 1998 and 2009.

The Illini earn their third top-2 seed in the last four years, and their fourth double-bye in the last five seasons, under head coach Brad Underwood.

Illinois is 21-8 in BTT games when it is the higher (better) seed.

Coleman Hawkins (3 games) and Luke Goode (2) are the only active Illini to have played more than one BTT tournament game in their careers, and they account for five of the 11 total BTT games played.

Terrence Shannon Jr, Ty Rodgers, Dain Dainja and Sencire Harris all played in their first BTT games last season vs. Penn State.

Hawkins is Illinois’ active BTT leader in points (35), rebounds (10), assists (4), blocks (2), and steals (3), in three-career tournament games.

Fifth-year Terrence Shannon Jr. is a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches, media, and AP.

Graduate student Marcus Domask is Big Ten Newcomer of the Year by AP and a first-team All-Big Ten pick by the coaches and AP, while garnering second-team accolades by the media.

Senior Coleman Hawkins (Sacramento, Calif.) is a second-team All-Big Ten pick by AP, third-team selection by the media, and honorable mention choice by the coaches.

Illinois defeated Ohio State 87-75 in Columbus back in January. Shannon had Domask both had 23 points Ty Rodgers had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

#10 Ohio State defeated #7 Iowa on Thursday night 90-78. Jamison Battle led the Buckeyes with 23 points, all of which came during the second half. Bruce Thornton had 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

On Feb. 14, head coach Chris Holtmann’s contract was terminated and Jake Diebler was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

The Buckeyes enter the game having won six of seven games under after the win over Iowa. They finished the year tied for ninth in the Big Ten at 9-11.

The Buckeyes have shot over 50 percent in each of the last three games, going 31-for-60 from the floor against Iowa and 11-for-20 from three.

Last year, the Buckeyes became the first No. 13 seed to reach the semifinals with three wins over Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan State.

ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI

G - TY RODGERS, 6-6, SOPH | 6.5 PPG | 5.2 RPG | 2.1 APG

G - TERRENCE SHANNON JR., 6-6, SR. | 21.6 PPG | 4.3 RPG | 2.2 APG

F - MACUS DOMASK, 6-6, SR. | 16.0 PPG | 4.9 RPG | 3.5 APG

F - QUINCY GUERRIER, 6-8, SR. | 10.4 PPG | 6.7 RPG | 0.3 APG

F - COLEMAN HAWKINS, 6-10, SR. | 12.9 PPG | 6.1 RPG | 2.7 APG

*****

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

G - BRUCE THORNTON, 6-2, SOPH. | 16.1 PPG | 3.5 RPG | 4.3 APG

He has the ball in hands a lot, and he takes good care of it with 128 assists and just 37 turnovers. His 3.46 assist-to-turnover ratio is eighth-best in the country and tops in the Big Ten. The big-bodied Thornton is a high usage player, but he's taking better shots and is more efficient since Diebler took over.

G - RODDY GAYLE JR., 6-4, SOPH. | 13.8 PPG | 4.5 RPG | 3.1 APG

Gayle is a streaky shooter who can get going from deep but has shot just .286 from three this season. His point come off the bounce and he tends to draw fouls and get to the line. At one point this season, he had a steak of 38-consecutive made free throws.

F - JAMISON BATTLE, 6-7, SR. | 14.4 PPG | 4.8 RPG | 1.2 APG

Battle is at his third schools after seasons at George Washington as well as two seasons at Minnesota. This season, he finished third in the Big Ten in 3-point field goals made (52). Currently, he is 14th on the NCAA active career list with 338 three-pointers. He is connecting on 44.0 percent of his attempts, which is tops in the Big Ten and is Top 10 nationally

G - EVAN MAHAFFEY, 6-6, SOPH. | 4.8 PPG | 4.3 RPG | 1.7 APG

Transfer from Penn State. Mahaffey has started every game but one this season. He's mostly a defensive stopper and rebounder from the wing. He's not a threat from beyond the arc and was just 1-for-5 overall from the floor against Iowa.

C - FELIX OKPARA, 6-11, SOPH. | 6.1 PPG | 6.3 RPG | 0.5 APG

Okpala shares time at the 5 with veteran Zed Key. His offensive consists mostly of dunks and layups. Okpala was second in the Big Ten in blocked shots. You can get him in foul trouble, as he fouled out of four games this season, including against Iowa on Thursday.

Bench production

Ohio State is going much deeper into its bench since Dieber took over as the interim coach and it is getting good production. They Buckeyes bench out-scored the Iowa bench 37-16 on Thursday, led by Scottie Middleton with 11 points on 4-4 shooting. They are also getting production from Zed Key, Dale Bonner, and freshman Devin Royal.

The Illini had good game from its bench in the season finale against Iowa, but it's been inconsistent. A good sign was the minutes they got from Dain Dainja, especially defending the rim on defense.

Free throw shooting

So far, the officials are calling tight games in Minneapolis. The Buckeyes aren't a great shooting team, but there will go into attack mode and look to draw fouls. Illinois has to defend without fouling. Ohio State got to the line 26 times against Iowa.

Only Purdue has been to the line more times that Illinois in Big Ten conference games and the Illini have improved its shooting percentage. In the last meeting, Ohio State couldn't defend Shannon or Domask without fouling the pair combined to go a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line.

Second chance points

In the last meeting, the Illini outscored Ohio State 14-7 on second points. Rodgers had 4 offensive rebounds. The Buckeyes are going to want to slow Illinois down on Friday, turn it into a jump shooting team, and crash the defensive glass.

Illinois had whopping 44 points in the paint in the last meeting. Expect Ohio State to clog the lane. The Illini will need to make some 3's over the top. If they go cold and are limited to one shot, the Buckeyes could pull off an upset.

Ohio State had 10 offensive rebounds and 14 second chance points against Iowa on Thursday.

ILLINOIS 83 OHIO STATE 78

The Buckeyes have been rolling, but Illinois is still the better team. The four days rest should have the Illini refreshed and ready to bring a strong effort. Ohio State had matchups problems against Shannon and Domask in the last meeting, and we should see a repeat. Illinois takes care of business and moves on.