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“The other day I was in the gym with Brandon and I said, ’Wouldn’t it be unbelievable to score 25 points and hit the game-winner against Illinois?”’ Sylvester said. “This feels so good I can’t describe it.”
After a timeout, a pass was tipped out of bounds in front of the Illinois bench. The Illini had one last chance with 2.2 seconds left. Williams passed to Powell, but his hurried 3-pointer from the top of the circle was well short and off the mark.
Fans rushed the court after the buzzer sounded, snapping photos, jumping up and down and slapping the Buckeyes on the back.
Dee Brown led the Illini with 13 points, although he was rattled all day by chants of “air ball” after several errant second-half shots. He was 3-of-11 from the field and had only five points over the final 34 minutes. Powell and Head each added 12 points.
Williams, who came in averaging 12.8 points a game, was 1-of-7 from the field and finished with two points.
“They just outplayed us,” Brown said. “They deserved it.”
Foster added 10 points for Ohio State, which enters this week’s Big Ten tournament as the No. 6 seed. After that, the Buckeyes will head home.
Matta was asked if the victory over Illinois makes his team’s postseason ban even more difficult to accept.
“Yeah. I thought we could win the national championship,” he joked. “And nobody’s ever going to know.”
The Illini will regroup, playing as the team to beat in the conference tournament and then in the NCAA tournament.
“I’d rather lose now than three weeks from now,” Weber said.
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