Jan. 04--COLUMBUS -- The player Illinois coach John Groce first mentioned after his team's loss to Ohio State was one who has no chance of helping the team this season.
"Tracy Abrams is not coming back until next year," Groce said of the point guard who was injured in preseason. "He's not out there. We have to figure it out."
Truthfully, Abrams probably couldn't have helped Illinois out of the jam it found itself in at Value City Arena..
But Groce's point was that the toughness Abrams personified was missing in Saturday's 77-61 loss at Ohio State.
"He's the bulldog," Groce said. "He's the guy when adversity hits he's going to fight you. We need more of that."
The Illini (10-5, 0-0 Big Ten) struggled through a second half stretch that allowed the Buckeyes (12-3, 1-1) to go on a 15-0 run while Illinois turned the ball over six of its season-high 20 times during the run.
"That was really the difference," Groce said.
Illinois went 7 minutes, 35 seconds without a field goal as Ohio State overcame the eight-point lead Illinois once held.
As ugly as the Illini played, the Buckeyes put together a beauty. They shot 60.9 percent in the second half (60 percent total for the game) and freshman guard D'Angelo Russell scored 22 points while playing all 40 minutes and shooting 7 of 13 from the field.
"I'm disappointed defensively we weren't able to impose our will at any juncture," Groce said
He later added simply and accurately: "We got our butt kicked."
Rayvonte Rice led the Illini with 20 points on 7 of 8 shooting, but he got off just two shots in the second half.
After shooting 8 of 15 on 3-pointers in the first half against Ohio State's zone defense, the Illini made only 1 of 9 in the second against the Buckeyes' man-to -man defense. Illinois shot only 38.9 percent after halftime, when they committed 13 of their turnovers.
"Toughness is part of it," said guard Kendrick Nunn, who finished with 10 points. "They wanted it more in that stretch. Guys played a little chill. They were beating us to 50-50 balls. That's a big part of the game."
Groce has preached toughness since he was hired three years ago. He said Saturday was the first time this season besides the opener Nov. 1 that he has questioned that characteristic.
He called the second half the "worst basketball we've played all season," as the Buckeyes outscored the Illini 41-24 after trailing 37-36 at halftime.
"I didn't think when we got popped in the mouth that we responded very well," he said. "We have to get better at that."
sryan@tribune.com
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