After squandering an 11-point halftime lead, Illinois recovered down the stretch and held off Ohio State for a 75-70 victory on Sunday night in a Big Ten game at State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill.

Senior swingman Malcolm Hill scored five of his team-high 20 points in the final three minutes to pace Illinois (11-4, 1-1), which recovered from a 25-point loss on Tuesday at Maryland.

Senior point guard Tracy Abrams added 16 points and Maverick Morgan and Michael Finke came off the bench to combine for 23 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore power forward Leron Black contributed a career-high 15 rebounds as the Illini snapped a six-game losing streak against Ohio State (10-4, 0-1).

Sophomore point guard JaQuan Lyle scored a season-high 26 points for Ohio State. Senior forward Marc Loving and junior guard Kam Williams added 10 points apiece.

Illinois coach John Groce, who served as an Ohio State assistant under Thad Matta when the Buckeyes reached the 2007 NCAA championship game, defeated his mentor for just the second time in eight tries.

Illinois’ most important stretch came right after Ohio State took a 19-17 lead on Williams' jumper with 10:05 left in the first half. The Illini responded with a 19-2 run as they dominated the boards and pushed the tempo.

Finke, a sophomore forward, opened Illinois' six-minute spree with a layup off a feed from Hill and Abrams capped it with three baskets that lifted the Illini into a 36-21 lead with 3:11 left in the half.

Illinois took a 40-29 advantage into the locker room, but Ohio State make an immediate run in the second half as the Buckeyes quit settling for jumpers and started getting inside. Conversely, Illinois started missing from the perimeter.

Lyle took over offensively midway through the second half. After Illinois opened a 54-48 lead on two Hill free throws with 11:14 to go, Lyle answered with 10 points in less than three minutes -- a 3-pointer, a jumper, another 3-pointer and a driving layup -- to give Ohio State a 58-57 lead with 8:34 left.

The teams traded the lead down the stretch, but sophomore shooting guard Jalen Coleman-Lands gave the Illini a 66-64 lead they kept for good when he buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3:30 to play.