Unless Illinois draws Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament in March, Saturday may have been the last time the Illini will see Aaron Craft. They’re probably not too upset about it.

Even with foul trouble limiting his first half playing time, Craft led Ohio State with 14 points in a 48-39 victory over Illinois at State Farm Center. Craft shot 5-for-6 from the field in what was Ohio State’s lowest scoring game of the season.

Ohio State has bested Illinois six of eight times since Craft became a Buckeye. But what overshadowed Craft’s performance in this game was Illinois’ feeble offensive showing.

This Illini team has seen its fair share of poor offensive play in 2014, but Saturday’s loss topped it all. Illinois’ 39-point output was its lowest of the season, and the lowest of any Illinois team since 2009.

“Our offense was anemic (Saturday),” head coach John Groce said after the game. “I thought Ohio State had a lot to do with that. I thought they imposed their will on the defensive end.”

The Illini shot 28.3 percent from the field and mustered only 16 points in the second half, after leading 23-20 at halftime. Groce’s squad nearly had as many turnovers (13) as it did field goals (15) for the game.

Illinois started the game with four different players contributing field goals in the first four minutes of play. Point guard Tracy Abrams hit two threes in the half, and center Nnanna Egwu grabbed 11 of a career-high 14 rebounds in the opening period.

Craft was forced to sit for much of the half after picking up two early fouls. He had scored seven points in the first 4:22 but did not score the rest of the half.

The Illini came out exceedingly cold in the second half. As a team, Illinois shot 6-for-22 in the half with three field goals in the last-ditch effort to the final two minutes.

“We didn’t take quite as much advantage as we did in the first half,” Groce said. “We’ve got to impose our will. Weren’t they playing the same defense in the first half? … Yeah.”

While Illinois was struggling offensively, the Buckeyes were crashing the boards and taking advantage of Illinois mistakes, scoring 15 points off Illinois turnovers. Craft knocked down a three at the 15:14 mark to give Ohio State its first lead in nearly 22 minutes of play.

The Buckeyes would never look back, extending their lead to as much as 13. Behind Craft’s 14 points, LaQuinton Ross put in nine points for the Buckeyes, and Marc Loving added eight.

Only six players scored for Illinois, with Abrams and Rayvonte Rice scoring 13 and 11, respectively. Ohio State is one of the better defensive teams in the Big Ten, but Abrams wasn’t so quick to give the Buckeye defense credit.

“Sometimes it’s a matter of you being tough,” Abrams said. “I give those guys a little bit of credit, they played hard and smart. But it’s a matter of you being tough.”

The Illinois bench contributed only two points, those coming from Joseph Bertrand, who Groce frankly stated has to play better. He said the same thing of his five freshmen.

“Our young guys, they were just OK today,” Groce said. “They’ve got to be a little bit tougher.”

They could learn a thing or two from watching a guy like Craft.

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and @sean_hammond.