College Basketball Game Of The Week: No. 22 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Illinois
How about another ranked matchup in the Big Ten conference?
We have a good one on tap this Thursday as Ohio State travels to take on Illinois at the State Farm Center.
Both teams are positioned inside the top four in the Big Ten standings with just a combined nine conference losses this season.
Illinois was able to bounce back in its last game picking up a big win on the road against a struggling Michigan State team.
The Fighting Illini used a strong first half to propel themselves to a win as they found themselves leading by 12 points at the half.
Overall, the Fighting Illini had two players score more than 20 points in the victory with the team leader being big man Kofi Cockburn who put up 27 points and nine rebounds during the win.
Jacob Grandison also had a solid performance putting up a season-high of 24 points for what was just his third game with 20 or more points this season.
The victory was much needed for Illinois after a tough loss in its last contest against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Along with that loss, the Fighting Illini have only won two of their last four games with another loss against Purdue mixed in there.
Now looking at the Buckeyes, they were also able to come out victorious in their last matchup with an overtime victory against the Indiana Hoosiers.
The Buckeyes dominated once the game hit overtime as they outscored the Hoosiers 17-6.
Leading the way for Ohio State was Malaki Branham who scored 27 points in the victory.
For Branham, that was his second straight game with 20 or more points for someone who is averaging 11.8 points on the season.
Like Illinois, the win was much needed for an Ohio State team that lost its last game coming into that matchup.
The Buckeyes have won three of their last five games with losses coming against Rutgers and Iowa.
This matchup between these two teams will be the only one on the season.
Last season, the two sides met up twice with each team winning one game by ten points or less.
The star power is there for both sides which should make this an exciting matchup with not much time left in the regular season.
Logan Bourandas is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
