Illinois vs. Ohio State: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

Sometimes there are midseason coaching adjustments that go unnoticed in the course of a long college basketball season.

The adjustment that Ohio State coach Thad Matta made in the Buckeyes' 77-61 victory over Illinois Saturday will not fall under that category if he sticks with it all year. Ohio State switched to man-to-man defense late in the first half after struggling to stop Illinois (or Louisville, North Carolina and Iowa in earlier losses) with the zone.

It worked to perfection.

In fact, the Buckeyes held the Fighting Illini to a mere 24 points in the second half in the man-to-man set after allowing eight early three-pointers in the first half in the zone. The Buckeyes also forced 20 Illinois turnovers and converted them into a number of easy opportunities on the other end. 

Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

Guard D'Angelo Russell led the way for the Buckeyes with 22 points and four assists, while forwards Sam Thompson and Marc Loving each added 13 points of their own. Shooting guard Rayvonte Rice spearheaded the Illinois attack with 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists, but he slowed down after hitting four three-pointers in the first half.

While Saturday's showdown between Illinois and Ohio State was a fairly important contest between two teams that both lost their first Big Ten game of the season, it was clear Buckeyes fans had something else on their mind, via Kevin Noon of BuckeyeGrove.com:

Ohio State's football team has the national championship game to look forward to, but the basketball team struggled to contain Rice early. He hit two early threes, which was critical if Ryan Easterling of Scout.com were to be believed:

The Buckeyes responded with some early energy off the bench from forward Jae'Sean Tate, as Eric Seger of TheOZone.net noted:

As the first half continued, Illinois got hot from deep, as Tim Shoemaker of Eleven Warriors pointed out. Still, the scoring wasn't all from deep, as Illinois on BTN passed along:

Perhaps the most important development in the first half was the fact that Illinois forced Ohio State out of its zone defense with eight early three-pointers. The zone has been a source of frustration for many Buckeyes fans all season considering how many open looks and offensive rebounds it led to in losses to Louisville, Iowa and North Carolina, so this was an interesting development.

It was especially interesting considering Matta's comments, via Seger: "I think the purpose of the zone is more suited for our team in terms of who we’re able to put on the floor and what they’re able to contribute. We play a lot of combination that if we were playing man-to-man I don’t think we could play in terms of guarding other people.”

Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press

The switch led to some defensive stops and helped the Buckeyes pull to within one at the half, 37-36. 

Illinois came out of the locker room as the more focused team, though, and took momentum right back with an early couple of baskets. Bob Baptist of The Columbus Dispatch noted that Ohio State was helping things along for the Fighting Illini:

The game settled into something of a back-and-forth affair early in the second half, but Ohio State got a spark from the bench when center Trey McDonald came in for Amir Williams down low, as Jeff Rapp of WTVN 610 acknowledged:

After McDonald's infusion of energy, the Buckeyes started to take off a bit and seized a 53-44 lead with an extended run. Associate Athletics Director for Communications Dan Wallenberg described the run, while Mike Young of Eleven Warriors noted that Loving was a big part of the momentum swing:

Russell then began to take over with incredible plays and a critical three-pointer, as Ohio State on BTN, Chris Lauderback of Eleven Warriors and Ari Wasserman of Cleveland.com all pointed out: 

Ohio State stretched its lead to 62-46 with swarming man-to-man defense and opportunistic offense. Matt Brown of SBNation had some advice for a Fighting Illini team that was so hot from behind the arc in the first half against the zone:

"

Illinois should consider putting their three point shooting cheat codes back on

— Matt Brown (@MattSBN) January 3, 2015"

The Buckeyes pulled away from Illinois because of their stifling defense, but they were also lethally efficient on offense for a nine-minute stretch in the second half, as Lauderback noted:

In the midst of the blowout, there was a scary moment for Ohio State late in the second half when forward Leron Black threw an elbow to the back of Russell's head and earned a flagrant foul. Russell was down for a minute on the floor holding his head, which was concerning considering he is Ohio State's leading scorer. 

Michael Citro of Eleven Warriors commented on the play that ended with Russell getting up and finishing the game:

As the game entered the final couple of minutes, Seger noted that the Buckeyes truly needed this victory after losing their first three contests against competition of note (Louisville, North Carolina and Iowa). The resume needed more than cupcake filler as March approaches: 

Ohio State put it on cruise control in the final couple of minutes and secured the easy 77-61 victory after an impressive second half on both sides of the floor.

What’s Next?

Ryan Young/Getty Images

Next up for the victorious Buckeyes is a trip to Minnesota Tuesday. It will be Ohio State's first road game of the conference season, and it will be interesting to see if Matta comes out in man-to-man defense or reverts back to the zone. 

If Saturday's result was any indication, he will likely open in a man-to-man look.

The Buckeyes need to pick up more notable victories before March after struggling in important games in the nonconference portion of the schedule, and a win at Minnesota would certainly fit the bill.

As for Illinois, it plays upstart Maryland Wednesday. The Fighting Illini are a disappointing 0-2 in conference play, and a showdown with the Terrapins (who look like the second-best team in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin) is not exactly the way to pick up that first win.