INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State is the No. 2 seed in the South Regional of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship tournament after falling to Illinois in overtime in the Big Ten title game Sunday.
The Buckeyes (21-9) will play No. 15 Oral Roberts Friday (3:00 p.m./CBS) at Mackey Arena on the Purdue campus in the first round of the tournament, which will be played completely in the state of Indiana.
Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 16 points and made key plays in overtime to send No. 3 Illinois past No. 9 Ohio State 91-88 for its first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005.
Cockburn made the go-ahead free throws with 1:39 to go, Dosunmu followed that with a game-breaking 15-footer and the Fighting Illini sealed it at the free-throw line.
Ohio State was led by Duane Washington Jr. with a career-high 32 points and Justice Sueing with 22.
The Buckeyes erased a 17-point first-half lead to force overtime.
Illinois earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Big Ten again has more teams in the NCAA Tournament than any other conference. The league’s record nine teams include No. 1 seeds Illinois and Michigan and No. 2s OSU and Iowa in the 68-team field.
Gonzaga is the overall No. 1 seed. Baylor is also a top seed.
Under the NCAA’s COVID-19protocol, no player can show up for a game without seven negative tests for the virus and there are deadlines for teams to be replaced.