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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- This time Frank Williams' 3-pointer at
the buzzer went in and Illinois got to celebrate.
"As soon as I got the ball, I glanced at the clock and said,
`We got to get going,"' Williams said after his shot from above
the key gave the Illini (No. 17 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) an 80-77 victory over Ohio State (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) on
Thursday night in the Big Ten opener for both schools.
"I took it across the middle and let the ball go. And it went
in. I had a good release. It felt good the whole way," Williams
said.
Earlier this season, the freshman point guard had missed a
game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer in a loss to Duke and also
misfired on a potential game-winning 3 when the Illini lost to
Maryland.
"If I had missed that shot tonight it would have been my third
strike," Williams said. "I would have been down."
Instead, he was mobbed at center court as fans poured onto the court after his game-winner.
Williams' shot cut off a frantic Ohio State rally that saw the
Buckeyes rally from 10 points down with less than seven minutes
left. It was Ohio State's second loss at the buzzer this season.
The Buckeyes lost to Notre Dame in their opener on a last-second
shot.
"It hurts," Ohio State guard Scoonie Penn said. "We went
through this one time before. We kept ourselves in the game and now
we have to put it behind us."
Ohio State tied the game with five seconds left on a tip-in by
Ken Johnson before Williams took the inbounds pass, drove to the
middle and put up his 3-pointer.
"It seems like every time we'd make a run, they'd make a big
3," Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien said. "Our guys stayed with it
the whole game. I was just a little disappointed at the end we
couldn't find Williams. In a situation like that, it just gets a
little chaotic. And then Williams steps up and makes the big
basket."
Illinois (9-3) got 20 points from Cory Bradford, 17 from Cleotis
Brown and 13 from Williams.
George Reese scored a career-high 24 points, including 18 in the second half, for Ohio State (8-3), while Penn had 16 and Michael
Redd 15. The Buckeyes were hurt by 12 missed free throws.
"George kept us in the game in the second half. Without George, we probably would have been blown out," Penn said.
Reese tipped in a missed free throw by Johnson to bring the
Buckeyes within 77-75 with 1:23 left.
Illinois missed a shot and Ohio State rebounded, but the
Buckeyes lost possession with 50 seconds remaining. Marcus Griffin
then fumbled Bradford's pass under the basket with 22 seconds to go
and Ohio State had a final chance.
The Buckeyes took a timeout with 19 seconds left and Johnson
tipped in Reese's miss for the final tie.
The Buckeyes were able to stay in the game behind the second-half play of Reese. Redd's dunk, his 3-pointer from the baseline
and a follow shot by Brian Brown cut the Illini lead to two with
8:05 left.
But Bradford connected on his fourth 3-pointer to make it 66-61, made a cross-court pass to Brown for another 3-pointer and then hit
two free throws and the lead was back to 10 with 6:44 to go.
Reese then scored seven straight points and Ohio State's final
run cut it to 74-70 with 3:18 left.
Bradford's third 3-pointer of the first half and five straight
points from Brown helped the Illini build a 12-point lead. Ohio
State cut it to 42-35 at halftime when Reese hit one basket and
then seconds later got free for a dunk just before the buzzer.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Ohio State Clubhouse
Illinois Clubhouse
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