West Lafayette, Ind. – The Illinois men’s tennis team proved Sunday that they could compete with Ohio State. They just can’t beat them.

The Illini avenged an earlier loss to Michigan and advanced to the Big Ten tournament final this weekend, but fell there to the Buckeyes for the second year in a row.

“A loss is a loss,” junior Kevin Anderson said. “It was a lot closer, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be remembered as a loss.”

Ohio State won the match 4-1, with two other matches failing to finish after the Buckeyes clinched. But the match was nothing like the teams’ earlier meeting, a 7-0 Ohio State romp.

The Illini came within a few unlucky swings of taking the doubles point and were in the process of staging comebacks in the two matches that did not finish.

After taking just a single set in nine matches in the first meeting, the Illini got off to a strong start in the rematch. Marc Spicijaric and GD Jones fell at third doubles, but Brandon Davis and Ruben Gonzales, who was coming off an injury last time the teams met, came up with a dramatic break in the final game for an 8-6 win over Ohio State’s Drew Eberly and Justin Kronauge.

“I think we showed that if (Ruben and I) were playing the whole year together, we’d be one of the top 10 teams in the country,” Davis said.

That left Anderson and Ryan Rowe, the NCAA champions, as the deciding match against Devin Mullings and Chris Klingemann – a situation that Rowe said he would “take any day.”

The Illini seemed in control of the majority of the match, but couldn’t pull away against the Buckeyes’ unorthodox style, in which both players stayed at the baseline instead of attacking the net. Then, as Anderson served at 6-7, the Buckeyes had two consecutive shank returns sail over Rowe’s head. The Illini botched both shots and, just like that, lost the doubles point.

“I have all the respect in the world for Ohio State, but we really shouldn’t lose the doubles point to that team,” head coach Brad Dancer said.

Down an early point, the Illini needed to take four of the six singles matches to win. And for a time, they looked like they might.

Kevin Anderson, who lost to Mullings in straight sets in the first meeting, dominated Bryan Koniecko 6-2, 6-2 at first singles to tie the match.

But the Buckeyes rebounded, as Spicijaric and Jones fell quickly at third and fifth singles. Jones tried to overcome a shoulder injury that left him unable to serve, but could not stay with Klingemann as the match wore on.

With the score 3-1, and Rowe and Gonzales seeming to take control at second and fourth singles, the Illini needed Davis to take out Eberly at No. 6.

Davis was the only Illini player to take a set the first time the teams met, but couldn’t do the same on Sunday, losing several break points and falling 6-2, 6-3 to end the match.

“I had chances in both sets and I just did not capitalize,” Davis said. “It was a lot closer than the score indicated.”

The Illini were in the tournament final for the eight consecutive year after upsetting Michigan a day earlier.

The Illini had lost badly to the Wolverines in early April, but were dominant in doubles and got a gutsy performance from the injured Jones to take the match.

The Illini’s performance in the tournament likely assured them a top-16 ranking and a chance to open the NCAA tournament at home.

“Right now, it’s really hard to call it a success,” Dancer said. “But by the same token, we’re on a better path than we were a few weeks ago.”