Their perfect season gone, the next challenge for the Illini is turning a loss into a lesson.
"Everyone says a loss will help. We'll find out," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "We'll learn from it and move on. This next stretch is the most important of the year and that's what people are going to remember."
Ohio State reserve forward Matt Sylvester hit a 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left on Sunday to hand the top-ranked Illini their first defeat, 65-64.
PHOTO: AFP
The Illini (29-1, 15-1) were trying to cap the Big Ten's first unbeaten season in 29 years. Instead, they frittered away a 12-point lead in the second half and didn't score over the final 3 minutes.
Sylvester scored a career-high 25 points -- eight more than his previous best -- for a team that was banned by its own administrators from the postseason two months ago to mitigate possible NCAA violations committed under former coach Jim O'Brien.
"We were in the huddle and Coach told us, `We're not going halfway. We're going for the win,'" Sylvester said.
First-year coach Thad Matta drew up a play in which center Terence Dials set a pick and rolled to the basket and guard Tony Stockman was used as a decoy. The Illini bit on the deception.
"As we left the huddle, Matt said, `I'll make the shot,'" Matta said. "And he did."
Ohio State (19-12, 8-8), a team with problems all year hanging onto the ball, didn't have a turnover in the second half. The Illini, who had hurdled tough games in loud environments all season, had seven turnovers after halftime.
"We didn't take care of the ball and they made all the plays at the end," Illinois center Jack Ingram said. "They won it."
It was the second straight season a team coached by Matta ended a run at perfection. Matta's Xavier team handed Saint Joseph's its first loss last season in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
"I'd like to be the other team just one time," Matta said with a laugh. "I'm living for the day I'm the No. 1 team and someone else is trying to do it to us."
The last team to reach the NCAA tournament without a loss was UNLV in 1991. On Saturday, Matta had shown his players film clips of several huge upsets and the Rebels' loss to Duke in the national semifinals that year was one of them.
The Illini led 64-58 after James Augustine's layup with 3:23 left -- but didn't score again.
The Buckeyes ran off the next seven points, with Dials, who had 21 points, scoring on a half-hook before Sylvester drove the lane for a left-handed scoop to cut the lead to 64-62 with 1:40 remaining.
``They were loosey-goosey,'' Weber said of the Buckeyes. ``They didn't quit. They're an NCAA tournament team. Playing on their home court, they made the plays.''
With just over a minute left, Illinois' Deron Williams drove the lane and wrapped a pass around a defender to Roger Powell, but Dials swatted the shot away to teammate Je'Kel Foster. Sylvester missed a 15-footer for the Buckeyes and then Illinois' Luther Head misfired on a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left.
Ohio State called a timeout with 12 seconds left. Foster inbounded to Brandon Fuss-Cheatham who passed to Sylvester on the right wing, in front of the Ohio State bench. His quick shot seemed to surprise the Illini, nestling in the net while a capacity crowd at Value City Arena roared.
"The other day I was in the gym with Brandon and I said, `Wouldn't it be unbelievable to score 25 points and hit the game-winner against Illinois?'" Sylvester said. "This feels so good I can't describe it."
After a timeout, a pass was tipped out of bounds in front of the Illinois bench. The Illini had one last chance with 2.2 seconds left. Williams passed to Powell, but his hurried 3-pointer from the top of the circle was well short and off the mark.
Fans rushed the court after the buzzer sounded, snapping photos, jumping up and down and slapping the Buckeyes on the back.
Dee Brown led the Illini with 13 points, although he was rattled all day by chants of "air ball" after several errant second-half shots. He was 3-of-11 from the field and had only five points over the final 34 minutes. Powell and Head each added 12 points.
Williams, who came in averaging 12.8 points a game, was 1-of-7 from the field and finished with two points.
"They just outplayed us," Brown said. "They deserved it."
No. 2 North Carolina 75,
No. 6 Duke 73
North Carolina trailed by nine points with 3 minutes left, the kind of margin that might have been insurmountable for the Tar Heels in recent years.
"Last year, we would have probably given up," center Sean May said.
For this year's team, it wasn't an option.
Dynamic freshman Marvin Williams converted a three-point play with 17 seconds left to cap an 11-0 game-closing run and give the second-ranked Tar Heels a 75-73 victory over No. 6 Duke on Sunday.
North Carolina (26-3, 14-2), playing without the ill Rashad McCants for the fourth straight game, won its first ACC regular season championship since 1993, the same year of its most recent national title.
"It's been a long journey," said senior Jackie Manuel, one of three players left from an 8-20 team three years ago.
"To be honest, I didn't really know if we could do it. You really appreciate the highs when you've been at the bottom and seen the worst."
May had 26 points and 24 rebounds to record his eighth straight double-double for North Carolina, and his final rebound was the most important. After J.J. Redick missed a long 3-pointer that would have won it for the Blue Devils, teammate Daniel Ewing had a final chance from just inside the arc.
No. Florida 53, No. 3 Kentucky 52
Matt Walsh heaved the ball into the stands, David Lee jumped onto a courtside table and Anthony Roberson ripped off his jersey.
Florida's "Big Three" celebrated their first victory over Kentucky like no other.
"That was four years in the making right there," Lee said.
Roberson scored 21 points, including two free throws with 15 seconds remaining, and the Gators upset the third-ranked Wildcats 53-52 on Sunday.
Florida ended an eight-game losing streak against the Southeastern Conference bully and probably ended the Wildcats' hopes of getting a top seed in the NCAA tournament.
"It was the greatest win of my life," Walsh said.
Roberson, the league's leading scorer, stripped the ball from Patrick Sparks with about 12 seconds to play, trailing 52-51.
Sparks fouled Roberson as he headed the other way. Roberson stepped to the line and calmly made both ends of the 1-and-1.
Kentucky (23-4, 14-2) still had a chance to win it, but Kelenna Azubuike's 3-pointer just before the buzzer bounced off the left side of the rim and into Walsh's hands.
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