Illinois Uses 15- Run To Run Past Ohio State, 87-79

BY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 18 Illinois used a late 15-0 run to catapult past Ohio State, 87-79, at a sold-out State Farm Center on Sunday afternoon. 

Illinois trailed by as many as 11 points five minutes into the second half but outscored the Buckeyes 46-27 over the final 15 minutes to secure the win. Will Riley and Kylan Boswell combined for 13 points in the team's late 15-0 run in which the Illini held the Buckeyes scoreless for over five minutes coming out of the under-8 media timeout. 

Riley paced the Illinois scorers with 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. He hit his only 3-pointer of the game and grabbed three rebounds. 

Morez Johnson Jr. grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting for his third-career double-double. His 15 boards are tied with Kofi Cockburn's 15 rebound performance against Purdue (1/21/20) for the sixth-most in Illinois history for a freshman. 

Tomislav Ivisic returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games and scored 12 points, the 13th time this season he's surpassed double figures in scoring. He grabbed 10 boards for his team-leading eighth double-double of the season. 

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, making the first start of his collegiate career, added in 10 points, including a momentum-shifting steal and run-out dunk that brought the Illini to within 54-53 with just over 12 minutes to play. 

Boswell poured in 14 points on an efficient 5-for-8 from the field, while Kasparis Jakucionis dished out a game-high seven assists, his sixth game of the year with at least seven helpers, to go with eight points. 

Ohio State jumped out to an early 14-6 lead before a layup from Johnson sparked a 10-0 run, capped off by an Ivisic triple, for the Illini to give them their first lead of the afternoon, 16-14. 

A few minutes later Ohio State answered with a 10-0 run of their own to take a 29-23 lead into the final five minutes of the half. A Ben Humrichous trey, Johnson dunk, a pair of free throws from Jakucionis, and a Boswell 3-pointer in a 10-2 run pushed Illinois back in front, 35-34. Ohio State ended the half scoring seven points to take a 42-36 edge at the break. 

The Buckeyes came out of the half with some hot shooting to build up to their largest lead of the day at 11 points, 52-41. A Humrichous jumper started a 12-2 Illini run that included four points from Ivisic. Riley hit a mid-range jumper and Gibbs-Lawhorn added the final four points with a tip in, and his momentum-shifting dunk off of a steal.

Riley hit a step-back 3-pointer to knot the game up at 56 midway through the second-half. The first tie of the game since 2:24 left in the first half. With seven minutes remaining in the game, Riley hit two quick jumpers that sparked the game-changing 15-0 run. Boswell drove to the basket three times adding in nine points on three layups and three free throws. A Johnson layup completed the 15-0 run that spanned over 5 minutes. 

Illinois outscored the Buckeyes 51-37 in the second half to complete the come-from-behind win. 

No. 18 Illinois travels to Piscataway, N.J., to take on Rutgers on Wednesday night. The opening tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT in Jersey Mike's Arena.