Thomas helps Buckeyes bounce back, top Illinois

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Ohio State's Aaron Craft, right, dribbles past Illinois' D.J. Richardson during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday,. ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge

COLUMBUS -- Deshaun Thomas scored 19 points and No. 8 Ohio State regained its shooting touch, rolling over Illinois 83-67 on Tuesday night to remain in the thick of the Big Ten race.

Ohio State shot 65 percent from the field.

William Buford, much maligned for his recent poor shooting, had 17 points, and Aaron Craft added 11 to go with five assists. Jared Sullinger, third in the conference at 17.5 points a game, managed just nine before fouling out.

The Buckeyes (23-5, 11-4) stayed on the heels of Big Ten leader Michigan State with three games remaining.

The Spartans are 11-3 in league play heading into a game at Minnesota on Wednesday night. Ohio State will visit Michigan State in the regular-season finale on March 4.

Meyers Leonard had 21 for Illinois (16-12, 5-10), which has lost six in a row and nine of 10.

The game was a dramatic turnaround for Brandon Paul, who had 43 points in Illinois' 79-74 stunner over then-No. 5 Ohio State on Jan. 10. Paul almost destroyed the Buckeyes by himself, making 11 of 15 shots from the field -- including 8 of 10 3-pointers -- and 13 of 15 free throws.

But on this night, he managed just nine points on 2 of 9 shooting.

Ohio State improved to 18-1 at home this season, coming off a 58-48 loss at Value City Arena to Michigan State on Feb. 11 that ended a 39-game, home-winning streak. The Buckeyes made only 14 of 53 shots, an arena-record low of 26.4 percent. They connected on 2 of 15 3-pointers.

In their most recent game, a 56-51 loss to No. 17 Michigan, they shot 38.8 percent.

In losing two of their last three, many of the Buckeyes have caught a lot of flak, but none more than Buford, who hit 2 of 12 from the field in the loss to Michigan State and 3 of 12 at Michigan.

But he was 7 of 9 against Illinois.

The Illini never got closer than 16 points over the last 25 minutes. The loss will add to speculation that ninth-year coach Bruce Weber's job is in jeopardy.

In contrast to their most recent games, the Buckeyes came out hot.

In the opening 16 minutes against the Illini, they were 16 of 19 from the field (84 percent) and 5 of 7 (71 percent) behind the arc.

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