Postgame Notes From No. 19/17 Ohio State vs. No. 10/9 Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2006
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery
Attendance: 18,500 (sold out) This is the 161st meetingall-time between Ohio State and Illinois. The Buckeyes are 61-100vs. the Fighting Illini. The teams are 39-39 in Columbus with theBuckeyes winning five of the last six contests played at Value CityArena. With the win, the Buckeyes take sole possession of secondplace in the Big Ten conference at 7-3. Iowa leads the league at8-3. The last win vs. a Top 10 team was also against Illinois,March 6, 2005. The last time Ohio State had back-to-back victoriesagainst ranked opponents was in 2001, when the Buckeyes defeatedNo. 14 Iowa Feb. 7 and No. 16 Wisconsin Feb. 10. This is the 12thtime OSU and Illinois have met when both are ranked with the teamsat an even 6-6 record in those contests. The last time the teamsfaced one another as Top 25 squads was March 9, 2002. Ohio State is19-11 vs. Illinois when ranked among the Top 25 in the AssociatedPress poll. The crowd of 18,500 was the second sellout for OhioState this season. The Buckeyes are 24-7 overall in sold-out gamesat Value City Arena, including a 20-5 record vs. Big Ten opponents.OSU improved to 10-1 against ranked conference foes in sold-outgames. The Buckeyes are 17-8 overall vs. ranked teams at Value CityArena. When ranked Big Ten teams take the court at VCA, Ohio Stateis 17-5. Ohio State is 15-1 when leading at the half this seasonand 16-0 when leading in games with 5 minutes remaining. OSU haswon the last seven games on this date and nine of the last 10.Overall, the Buckeyes are 16-13 on this date. The Buckeyes are321-103 (.757) when playing as a ranked team. OSU is 57-41 (.582)all-time in games when both teams are ranked. Senior Je’Kel Fosterhit his first five 3-point shots and was 6 of 8 overall in thegame. Foster has hit 21 of 27 treys in the last four games (.778).Foster has hit three or more 3-pointers in the last four games andfive of the last six. He has made at least three treys 12 timesoverall this season. Ohio State is 22-3 when Foster makes three ormore treys in a game and 25-2 when he reaches double figures inscoring. The Buckeyes have hit 20 of 28 3-pointers (.714) in thefirst half of the last two games (8 of 12 vs. Illinois; 12 of 16 atMichigan, Feb. 9). Ohio State was 13 of 23 from beyond the arc forits ninth game this season of hitting 10 or more. OSU is 9-0 inthose games. It was the 19th time of hitting 10-plus in the Mattaera (16-3). The Buckeyes have hit 199 of 465 3-pointers this seasonfor a percentage of .428. The 465 attempts are the fourth-most in asingle season in school history. Sophomore Jamar Butler scored acareer-high 22 points on 8 of 11 FG shooting to lead the Buckeyesand hit a career-high five 3-pointers. He has scored 42 points inthe last two games. Butler also recorded four assists for his 11thgame with four or more this season. In the last two seasons, theBuckeyes are 17-3 in games in which Butler dishes our four or moreassists. Senior Terence Dials had 19 points with a career-high 16rebounds for his second double-double of the season and 12th of hiscareer. His 16 rebounds were the most grabbed by a single player inValue City Arena history. Dials is now 20th all-time in careerscoring with 1,375 points. He is No. 7 all-time in rebounding with776.
