By Danielle Daniels

2 2 2025
Ohio State at No. 18 Illinois
Date: February 2, 2025
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Venue: State Farm Center – Champaign, Ill.
TV: CBS
Listen: Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Game Notes: Ohio State |
Rosters: Ohio State | Illinois
Season Stats: Ohio State | Illinois
TICKETS: Season, single-game, group and mini plans are available for all men’s basketball games this season. Visit OhioStateBuckeyes.com or call the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office in the Schottenstein Center at 1-800-GOBUCKS.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State completes its three-games in seven-days spurt by traveling to No. 18 Illinois on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET and the game will be televised nationally on CBS. Kevin Harlan and Jim Spanarkle will call the action.
The game can also be heard on the Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield. Paul Keels and former Buckeye captain Ron Stokes are on the call.
- Sunday’s game will be the 194th meeting all-time between the two programs. Illinois leads the series 111-82.
- The last Buckeye win at the State Farm Center came on Feb. 24, 2022 and what a game it was. The Buckeyes answered multiple Illinois runs in the first half and would build at 16-point second half lead. Illini head coach Brad Underwood was thrown out of the game at that point and it ignited both the team and the crowd. Illinois stormed all the way back to within two points late but the Buckeyes held on for an 86-83 victory. Malaki Branham finished with 31 points and E.J. Liddell, playing in his home state, finished with 21 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
- Last year, Illinois won both meetings, beating the Buckeyes 87-75 in Columbus on Jan. 30 and then outlasting Ohio State in a thrilling 77-74 win in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on March 15.
- This is the lone regular season meeting between the teams so it seems appropriate to bring up that it’s been 20 years since “The Shot at the Schott.” Matt Sylvester capped a career night with a three-pointer with just five seconds to play to give the NCAA sanctioned Buckeyes a 65-64 victory over No. 1 Illinois on March 6, 2005. The Illini, who were led by Deron Williams and Luther Head, were 29-0 entering the game. Sylvester’s shot will live forever in Ohio State history.
- Ohio State is coming off an 83-64 victory at Penn State on Thursday, its third-consecutive win to improve to 5-5 in Big Ten play. John Mobley Jr. led the way with 19 points and he tied season-highs with eight assists to go along with a season-high five rebounds.
- Mobley Jr. is the only freshman in the country to have at least 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds in a game against a DI opponent. He’s also the only freshman in the Big Ten to have made a three-pointer in every game this season.
- The Buckeyes are currently 25th in the NET rankings.
- Bruce Thornton has shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from beyond the arc in the Buckeyes’ three-game win streak. He’s averaging a team-best 17.0 ppg and has scored 1,277 career points. Next on the career scoring list are pretty big names like Jared Sullinger (1,282), Clark Kellogg (1,285) and E.J. Liddell (1,298).
- Illinois is coming off a tough 80-74 overtime setback at Nebraska on Thursday night. That was the Illini’s third loss in the last four games. Illinois is the best rebounding team in the country, and also tops the conference in field goal percentage defense.
#GoBucks
COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS