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Well, it's not like they didn't have their chances. The Illini did force the Buckeyes into a pair of extra sessions. In the final seconds of second half, the Illini had the ball, and Bruce called a timeout with 3 seconds to go. The resulting play ended up in a shot that would not have counted,

In a similar situation at the end of the first over time, Bruce did not call a timeout. The result was a desperation shot that fell short.

In either of those situations, there is plenty to second guess for Bruce. He tried both, and both resulted in no points. It is what it is.

Overall though the Illini did play quite well. Well outside of the 18-0 run from OSU. The seven minute scoreless drought was exacerbated by the hated Jon Diebler shooting the threes that keep Bruce Weber up at night. The Illini were able, however to ultimately overcome this. Mike Tisdale played limited minutes due to fouls, but his shots in the final 10 of regulation kept the Illini alive.

Even in the loss, we have to take our hats off to the performance of Tyler Griffey. Tyler's 13 points and 5 rebounds are without a doubt the most meaningful contribution he has made all year, especially given the magnitude of the situation. He stepped in for Mike Tisdale who as we mentioned before is as important to the offense of the Illini as McCamey, and the offense did not miss a beat. 

All of the freshmen stepped up today on offense. Brandon Paul is proving that although he is still a ball of raw talent, he still needs to work on his decision making. (Just like the young Demetri McCamey.) 4 boards and 4 assists, he is on his way.

D.J. Richardson proved that he is the freshmen of the year in the Big Ten. Aside from the valiant defense he played in the first half, he scored 15 points, had 4 assists and 3 boards. Amazing.

Mike Davis: 18 rebounds, 13 points. He will be all tournament.

Why did the Illini lose. Evan Turner. 31 points, 10 assists, 6 assists. Enough said.

Says Tyler Griffey "I wish I could have done more"

Bruce Weber "I didn't want to call timeout because they are so hard to get it in on." Inbound problems for the Illini could very well have cost them the game. This is what they mean when they say it's about the little things.

BW on Evan Turner : "He is a smart player, any time we attacked him he was smart enough to keep out of that last foul"

BW  "This was a possible one seed, and we out played them for much of the game."

BW on the OSU run "we got real soft and tentative. we should have been more aggressive to put more pressure on the defense."