\n\u201cI see it as a Game 7,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWin or go home for postseason play. We\u2019ve got home-court advantage. You can\u2019t ask for more. We have to take care of home court. Nerves are tight right now. After playing bad the last two times, we have to come out at home and take care of home court.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe on-and-off Illini have no choice but to bring it. Illinois (18-12 overall, 10-7 Big Ten) can\u2019t afford a three-game losing streak to end the regular season after an inconsistent nonconference run littered with bad losses.<\/p>\n
\nThis wasn\u2019t a spot where the Illini were expected to snag a win. Ohio State clinched a share of the Big Ten title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. If somebody said the Buckeyes are the Big Ten\u2019s best team as the season turns to March Madness, there might not be much of an argument.<\/p>\n
\nIllinois stuck within 48-45 midway through the second half before Ohio State pulled away for its third conference title in six seasons.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIf we would have played with this effort Saturday (vs. Minnesota), we wouldn\u2019t be in the predicament we\u2019re in,\u2019\u2019 Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. \u201cIf we played with this effort at home against (Ohio State), we might not be in this predicament. Our team is a funny team. They\u2019ve been exciting at times. At the same time, they\u2019re very inconsistent.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\nBy virtue of Michigan\u2019s 83-55 victory over Minnesota earlier Tuesday, Illinois avoided playing in the conference tournament\u2019s first round Thursday. The Illini will play in the quarterfinal game pitting the No. 4 and 5 seeds.<\/p>\n
\nThat would likely mean a two-game series against Wisconsin. The Illini upset the Badgers 63-56 in Madison on Feb. 9 for a win that appeared to put them on the right track. But the Illini have lost four of their last five games while lumbering through a stretch of six games in the final eight against top 15 opponents for the first time in school history.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u2019\u2019 Weber admitted. \u201cWe put ourselves in this situation. It shouldn\u2019t be stressful. It\u2019s a challenge and a great opportunity.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNow I have to ask our fans. They\u2019ve been great all year. They\u2019ve stuck with us in the highs and lows. We need them Sunday. Get up early, got to church, say some prayers and get fired up. It will not be easy.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\nGuard Demetri McCamey had 18 points and seven assists, but the Illini eventually couldn\u2019t keep pace with the talented Buckeyes (24-7, 14-4), who wait to see if Purdue and Michigan State can force a tie.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have enough guys to guard their quality players,\u2019\u2019 Weber said. \u201cDemetri did a good job keeping us in the game. (Freshman Brandon Paul) brings explosion. He has to learn shot selection, but he gives us a threat. He gives us athleticism.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe have to get more out of our big guys and get to the free-throw line. We don\u2019t go strong and play strong.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\nPaul scored 11 points and center Mike Tisdale had 10. Davis finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n
\nOhio State guard Evan Turner, a prep teammate of McCamey at Westchester St. Joseph in the Chicago suburbs, guided the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title. With the championship, there\u2019s even less of a chance of Turner returning for his senior season.<\/p>\n
\nProjected as the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft in June, Turner said his decision will depend on whether he gets what he wants out of this season. A Big Ten ring was the first step.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDefinitely win a Big Ten title and try to get a national championship and try to be one of the best ever to come out of here,\u2019\u2019 Turner said before compiling 16 points, 12 rebounds and five assists against the Illini. Read the original article from Journal Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services<\/a><\/p>\n The season boils down to one game for Illinois, said forward Mike Davis in the hallway outside the locker room Tuesday following a 73-57 loss to No. 6 Ohio State at Value City Arena. Win and stay alive for the NCAA tournament. The alternative isn\u2019t so pleasant, when Illinois hosts No. 15 Wisconsin at 11 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-382610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJohn Supinie can be reached at Johnsupinie@aol.com.<\/a><\/em>
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