Win at Ohio State puts Illini back in the hunt

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Assistant coach Jerrance Howard, who was in uniform the last time Illinois celebrated a win at Ohio State, became the first to get through the postgame handshake line at midcourt.

That enabled him to be the first to get underneath the Value City Arena stands - just so he could post up just outside the locker room and wait for the other Illini to walk past.

"Back in the hunt!" Howard exclaimed as he slapped each player's hand. "We're back in the hunt, fellas!"

Not only did the 18th-ranked Illini jump back into the Big Ten race with a 70-68 victory on Sunday afternoon, they made it all-but-impossible for the NCAA Tournament to go on without them.

Four days after managing just 33 points at home against Penn State, Illinois enjoyed its best Big Ten performances this season for field goal shooting (58.3 percent) and 3-point shooting (52.9 percent).

"It was tough to come back from everybody making fun of us on the internet and on TV," said Illinois sophomore forward Mike Davis, who led everyone with 22 points on 11-for-14 shooting against Ohio State's zone.

"But we showed resilience and showed we can come out and play with anybody."

Though Wisconsin blew a lead and ended up losing at Michigan State on Sunday, Illinois (22-6, 10-5) remains just 11/2 games behind the Spartans in the Big Ten chase.

But more important in this NCAA-centric era, Illinois wrapped up a sweep of Ohio State (17-8, 7-7) to go with an earlier sweep of Purdue.

It seems inconceivable, even should the Illini lose the rest of the way, for the NCAA Tournament committee to bypass Illinois.

"I think the same thing you're thinking, that we're already in," Davis said. "But you can't think that way. We came out against Penn State and thought we were in the tournament already. We kind of played lackadaisical and didn't have much enthusiasm.

"Tonight we showed great enthusiasm. Everybody played hard, everybody played good defense, everybody was helping."

And from the game's first possession, everybody was hitting shots.

Starting with Mike Tisdale's 17-foot baseline jumper 12 seconds into the game, Illinois drained 8 of its first 9 shots against Ohio State's zone to lead the entire way.

When Trent Meacham and Demetri McCamey weren't hitting 3-pointers, Davis was flashing to a spot just inside the free-throw line and raining in quick 12-foot one-handed flips.

"He just grabbed the ball and threw it up and it went right in," said Ohio State's Evan Turner. "It was kind of like a Kevin Coble situation. You blink your eye and it's already up."

Davis benefited from a zone offense Illinois introduced last year to deal specifically with Ohio State.

"It's a timing thing," said Illinois coach Bruce Weber. "We spread them out, get four guys on the perimeter and then it's kind of like a buttonhook in football - and that's a timing pattern. He just kind of loops in there."

Though Davis, Meacham (17 points) and McCamey (15 points) kept scoring, it wouldn't be an Illini game without a late run from the opposition.

Illinois led 58-48 with 5:59 to go after the first of Chester Frazier's two buzzer-beating 3-pointers, but Turner started slashing to the hoop and making things happen for the Bucks.

He scored 12 of his 17 points in the final 5:24 as Ohio State twice pulled within 2 points.

But Meacham canned both ends of a 1-and-1 with 26.5 seconds left to parry the first threat. Then, with six-tenths of a second to go, Meacham deliberately missed a free throw and Turner's 85-foot heave fell a few feet short.

Was win No. 22 enough for the NCAAs, Bruce Weber?

"I hope, but you still never know," he said. "If we get to 23-24, I'll feel a little more comfortable."