No. 22 Ohio State continues its busy schedule with a road game at No. 15 Illinois on Thursday.
The Buckeyes (17-7, 10-5 Big Ten) play for the third time since Saturday and will have two more games through March 1 as they make up for two postponements.
They were emotionally and physically spent after defeating Indiana 80-69 in overtime on Monday.
“We had some guys who were fatigued,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said on his radio show Tuesday. “I’m not going to get into great detail, but we had a pretty important guy who was sick, under the weather.”
The Illini (19-7, 12-4) are rested following a 79-74 win at Michigan State on Saturday.
Illinois is a physical team which could present problems for the Buckeyes, who in the past two games – against the Hoosiers and in a loss to Iowa — allowed a combined 35 offensive rebounds for 35 second-chance points.
The key for Illinois is Kofi Cockburn, who is the only player in the country averaging at least 21 points (21.7) and 10 rebounds (11.2).
But Illini coach Brad Underwood thinks his potential Big Ten Player of the Year can do more, especially from the free-throw line where Cockburn had missed seven of his previous 14 attempts prior to the Michigan State game.
Cockburn made 7 of 9 vs. the Spartans to put his season average at 65.2 percent from the line.
“Coach called me a coward. He called me out the other day,” Cockburn said. “He basically called me out and said I’m a coward for not being mentally tough to not go up there and knock it down. … I accepted the challenge.
“He knows I love it, so he keeps doing it and getting on me anyway he can,” Cockburn added. “I will have 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds) and he will get on me like, ‘Why didn’t you have 25 and 15?’ He’s never satisfied with me and he keeps pushing me. I love that energy. That makes me know that he cares about me and wants me to be great.”
Cockburn and Trent Frazier (12.4 points, 4.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds) are a solid one-two combo that the Buckeyes hope to counter with E.J. Liddell and emerging freshman Malaki Branham.
Branham, the 2021 Ohio Mr. Basketball, scored 27 points against Indiana, second only to the 35 he had vs. Nebraska on Jan. 2.
However, it was his drive-and-dish to Liddell for the tying basket with six seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime that Holtmann wanted to talk about.
“It’s pretty remarkable for a freshman to have that level of composure,” the coach said. “You can’t put the ball in guys’ hands that aren’t composed in that moment.”
Liddell likes what he’s seen of Branham.
“I’ve said before the season started, he’s a bucket-getter,” he said. “As the year goes on, he’s going to get better and better. I feel like he’s seeing the game a lot better and it’s slowing down. He had a great night all around.”
–Field Level Media
