In a day of new beginnings for the nation and with a newly-adorned top-25 ranking in tow, Illinois (16-3, 4-2) beat Ohio State (13-4, 3-3) for the first time in six games in a resounding 67-49 win.

Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said the national ranking proved beneficial to his players, not a weight too heavy to carry, in the runaway contest.

“I really think (the ranking) was a nice adrenaline boost for our guys. I was surprised to be honest. I didn’t even ask Monday when it came out. I think it surprised the kids too,” Weber said.

“I had coaches call, ‘Man, you guys competed.'”

“It’s ironic it comes after a loss. We thought maybe after Missouri, after Purdue, but we didn’t get it. Now, do you want to stay in it? It’s easier to climb the mountain without expectations.”

Not since the first round of the NCAA Tournament nearly three years

ago has Illinois – then a No. 4 seed in the tournament – defended its

national ranking. They did so against then-No. 14 seeded Air Force. It

took a team effort Tuesday to get the win, as it nearly always does,

one that should keep Illinois among the nation’s elite with Saturday’s

game against Wisconsin approaching.

Four Illini scored in double figures – Mike Tisdale (15 points), Demetri McCamey (13), Dominique Keller (12), and Chester Frazier (10) – to help Illinois rebound from Saturday’s loss against No. 7 Michigan State. Weber had expressed concern over the road loss affecting his team moving forward.

“I think the most positive thing is how our guys responded from the loss,” Weber said. “The thing I mentioned the other day, you can’t let one loss create two losses. I wasn’t sure, and we got after them a little bit.”

Illinois got after Ohio State in the second half. Up by only eight points with seventeen minutes to play, Illinois’ big men Tisdale and Mike Davis scored 9 of the team’s next 14 points to make it 52-36. Illinois and Ohio State traded threes on the next three possessions, two of them by Illini, before Illinois really started to pull away. A bucket by Tisdale following an airball by Alex Legion got it started. Frazier put back a fast break miss after a steal seconds later to give Illinois a 59-42 lead.

“Hats off to Illinois. They did a tremendous job keeping us from doing what we wanted to do,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said.

“For whatever reason, we didn’t have the energy to be in the game tonight.

“In college basketball, you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low. This is what happens when you play a great team.”

Illinois guard McCamey, who had seven assists, said he and his teammates got together after the loss in East Lansing. Mich., to talk about things. In a postgame session that illustrates the difference between last year’s team and this one, the group decided to do things differently this time around.

“We talked in the locker room after Michigan State and a couple people were fussing, going on, and we got down,” McCamey said.

“You can’t do that. We did that last year.

“We just got together and said we have to keep our composure like we did against Purdue, keep feeling happy and keep winning.”

In the Jan. 21 edition of The Daily Illini, the article titled “No. 25 Illinois reborn after win against OSU” reported the last time the team defeated a ranked opponent was against Air Force in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The numbers represented seeds, not rankings. The information has been corrected in this version.