If No. 18 Illinois was going to start turning its season back around, it was almost certainly going to need a hand from its freshmen.

But with streaking Ohio State in Champaign on Sunday, Will Riley and Morez Johnson Jr. didn’t just offer a hand – they threw the Illini on their backs and galloped to what may be remembered as a pivotal 87-79 win over the Buckeyes.

Riley exploded for 20 of his 24 points in the second half, Johnson had 14 points and 15 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, and they combined to key a 40-18 run that spun around an 11-point deficit and sent the Buckeyes packing.

The Illini (15-7, 7-5 Big Ten) celebrated the healthy return of center Tomislav Ivisic (mono) by outrebounding Ohio State 43-31 and hammering the Buckeyes (13-9, 5-6) inside – especially in the second half. Illinois outscored the visitors 52-30 in the paint.

Illinois’ increasingly painful three-point-shooting struggles continued Sunday (4-for-20, 20 percent), but the Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight got wise and found a much easier target when shooting from point-blank range. Johnson’s beast-mode performance – including seven offensive rebounds and several putback dunks – and Ivisic’s efficiency inside (4-for-6 shooting inside the arc) helped keep the Illini afloat when it appeared for all the world that they were going under.

A stronger defensive effort in the second half – Ohio State was held to 30.6 percent shooting after the break – was another difference-maker, as Kasparas Jakucionis, Kylan Boswell, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and others did an excellent job of contesting shots. Roughly midway through the half, with the Illini still trailing by two, Buckeyes guard John Mobley Jr. curled around a pick to find daylight – until the 6-foot-6 Jakucionis came soaring in to snuff it.

But the day belonged to Riley. His three-pointer and three-point play on back-to-back possessions tied the game at 59 with 10:48, and his 6-for-6 shooting from the free-throw line over the final 2:11 helped prevent any late-game OSU heroics.

Boswell chipped in 14 points and Ivisic matched Johnson’s double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) for the Illini, who ended the Buckeyes’ three-game win streak and gained some footing with a rocky remaining Big Ten schedule still ahead.

OSU’s Royal led the game with 29 points.

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