Hamstrung by foul problems and unable to get the one last break needed for yet another star on its NCAA Tournament resume, Ohio State came up just short against second-seeded Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament.

Minneapolis, MN – A quick glance suggests Ohio State came up an agonizing three points short of the upset win over second-seeded Illinois that it needed Friday at the Big Ten Tournament.

But, really, the Buckeyes’ came even closer than their 77-74 loss that, had it ended differently, just might have landed OSU (20-13) in the NCAA Tournament.

Veteran columnist Bruce Hooley writes Ohio State basketball and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.

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In reality, Ohio State was as close as one additional rebound in the waning seconds…one who-knows-what-he-was-thinking mistake at the wrong time by an OSU senior…or one official’s call that should have fouled out Illinois’ best player with six minutes to play.

Any of those – and Ohio State likely needed only one of them – could have been enough to avert the Illini’s escape in a game the Buckeyes led by 10 points with 11 minutes left and three points with 1:41 remaining.

Instead, OSU went scoreless thereafter and Illinois made all six of its free throw attempts to end the Buckeyes’ fairy-tale rally in the aftermath of former head coach Chris Holtmann’s firing on Valentine’s Day.

Why was Ohio State fouling at the finish, when leading, 74-71, via Jamison Battle’s shot in the lane at 1:41?

Well, after Terrence Shannon’s two free throws at 1:28 cut that margin to one, Battle tried again with a hard drive to the hoop that drew contact, but no foul, resulting in a jump ball to Illinois.

Coleman Hawkins then put the Illini in front for the first time since late in the first half with another pair from the line, where Illinois would finish 21-of-32 to OSU’s 10-of-13.

Now down, 75-74, OSU crossed midcourt and, before it could set up much of anything, watched backup center Zed Key to set quite possibly the worst excuse for a screen in the history of college basketball.

Key positioned himself to impede Hawkins covering Battle three feet behind the three-point line. But, for some inexplicable reason, Key then just fell into Hawkins like an oak tree on the wrong end of a sharpened chainsaw.

In a game where officials let Illinois hammer Ohio State mercilessly in the post for offensive rebounds – a sickening 19, to be exact – Key’s nonsense couldn’t be ignored when committed it in full view of everyone in the Target Center.

Leading by one and seeking further separation from the Buckeyes, Illinois’ Marcus Domask missed yet another jumper on a night the first-team All-Big Ten wing went an abysmal 3-of-16 from the field.

But Ohio State let Hawkins grab the rebound with 32 seconds left.

No worries, right?

Just play great defense, regain possession after the Illini consumed however much of the 18 seconds they had left to shoot, then either preserve the win at the free throw line or hold for a final, game-winning attempt.

Instead, Shannon did Ohio State a big favor.

Not as big a favor, mind you, as officials did Shannon when they ignored his bull-in-a-china-shop steamrolling of OSU’s Bruce Thornton with six minutes left.

Thornton was in defensive position and backpedaling only slightly when Shannon, who has no gear below overdrive, flattened him driving to the rim just 29 seconds after checking back into the game.

Officials pretended their whistles were a delectable dessert, swallowing them obligingly and sending Shannon to the line for a pair of free throws that he drained.

More importantly, the call spared Shannon banishment to the court-side seat he should have occupied the remainder of the night…kinda like the temporary restraining order that’s allowed Shannon to play since January despite facing up to 54 years in prison on a rape charge that will go to trial in May.

Don’t you just love college sports?

Fast forward to the final 32 seconds, with Shannon at the top of the key, where he let fly a hoped-for clinching triple that instead came up well short.

Ohio State, though, whiffed again on the rebound and Hawkins, again, grabbed it.

Forced to foul on the inbounds, OSU put Shannon on the line at 11.3 and he hit both, leaving the Buckeyes down, 77-74.

The anticipated Illinois foul on the Buckeyes’ ensuing possession never happened, with Battle getting off a contested triple under heavy duress that could have tied it.

Instead, it came up just short, as did his heave from midcourt after stealing an Illini inbounds pass in the final second.

“I’m just glad everyone got to see what’s in this locker room,” interim coach Jake Diebler said of the team that lost nine of Holtmann’s final 11 games, but went 6-2 thereafter. “My belief in them has never waivered.

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“We understand that things didn’t go as any of us anticipated for a certain stretch of the season, but we have great players in here who care so much about this program.”

Illinois coach Brad Underwood, who stomped and spat and sputtered throughout timeouts in an attempt to awaken his team to shake an opponent it beat by 12 points in Columbus, was not happy with what he saw on OSU’s final possession or all night.

“We were supposed to foul when they came across half-court,” Underwood said. “That was a mess. We got lucky.”

Shannon’s 28 points and 18 off the bench from backup bouncer – er, center – Dain Dainja delivered the Illini (24-8) from an OSU upset bid built on Battle’s 21 and Thornton’s 20.

The Buckeyes bench, which contributed a collective 37 in a Thursday win over Iowa, managed just 20 this time around with Devin Royal (6 points, 2 rebounds) limited to just 19 minutes because of foul trouble.

OSU center Felix Okpara had 10 rebounds and four blocks, but scored just four points in 24 minutes, fouling out with 2:27 to go to invite Illinois’ crippling dominance of the offensive glass down the stretch.

Officials called Ohio State for 27 fouls to Illinois’ 13, including seven on the Buckeyes in the last 5:44, at which point OSU held a 65-61 lead. The Illini were not whistled for a single foul over that span.

“We talked about the most important real estate being what was in the paint,” Diebler said. “We just couldn’t get the rebound we needed when we needed it there af the end, but that doesn’t change anything I feel about this team and how they responded.”

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