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No. 3 Illinois beats No. 9 Ohio State in OT to take Big Ten title

Associated Press
| Sunday, March 14, 2021 6:55 p.m.
AP
Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell (left) and Illinois center Kofi Cockburn go for the ball during the second half of the Big Ten Tournament title game Sunday, March 14, 2021, in Indianapolis.

INDIANAPOLIS — Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu both scored 16 points, both grabbed nine rebounds and both made key plays in overtime to give No. 3 Illinois a 91-88 victory over No. 9 Ohio State on Sunday for its first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005.

Cockburn made the go-ahead free throw with 1 minute, 39 seconds to play, Dosunmu made a 15-footer with 50 seconds to go and the Illini (23-6) sealed it at the free-throw line. Illinois has won seven straight overall, six in a row over top-10 foes and 14 of its last 15 overall to claim the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

At times, Illinois appeared to be in complete control, but Ohio State (21-9) refused to give in to the weariness of playing four games in four days.

And after erasing a 27-10 first-half lead to force overtime and even take an 81-80 lead with 2:49 to play, Illinois finally broke through thanks to Cockburn and Dosunmu.

It was that kind of game.

Duane Washington Jr. had a career-high 32 points, and Justice Sueing added 22 for the Buckeyes. They closed the halftime deficit to 40-35 and got as close as 47-45 early in the second half. When Illinois appeared to take control again with a 10-1 run, making it 57-46, the Buckeyes rallied to briefly take a 67-65 lead with 5:35 left in regulation.

And when the Illini thought they had deterred pesky Ohio State once more, Sueing completed a three-point play with 23.6 seconds left to force overtime.


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