As we move through February and into March, every college basketball game becomes increasingly important. The men’s basketball Buckeyes came into their late night matchup on Thursday against Illinois coming off of a huge, overtime win over Indiana on Monday night to after falling to Iowa 75-62 on Saturday.
Coming into the contest against the Illini, both teams were sitting in the top-four of the Big Ten standings; the top-four teams at the end of the regular season receive a double-bye straight into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, and — more importantly — two days of extra rest before their respective postseasons begin.