Welcome to the Big Ten where you simply have to expect the unexpected. Ohio State has had all kinds of issues on the road at times this season but found a way to go to Champaign and knock off No. 15 Illinois 86-83 to put itself right in the thick of the Big Ten title race.
Early on, it looked like the Illini would run away with things behind the home crowd and a 13-point lead it built early in the first half. OSU found itself behind Kyle Young, Malaki Branham, and E.J. Liddell though as the half went on, and the Buckeyes were able to tighten things up to just a one-point deficit at halftime.
In the second half, Ohio State came out on fire and put some serious distance between itself and Illinois, going up by as many as 16 points. Malaki Branham was the star offensively in the second half, but the Buckeyes did a lot of its best work of the year on defense as well, holding center Kofi Cockburn in check, even getting him in foul trouble and eventually out of the game with five fouls.
