Emotional senior day for Buckeyes in loss

OSU shooting went cold late as squad fell in fourth straight game.

Standing near center court, CJ Walker did everything he could to hold back the tears. Moments later, Kyle Young was facing the same situation.

Throughout, standing along the baseline several feet from his Ohio State teammates, Duane Washington Jr. was doing the same thing.

It was the end of senior day at Value City Arena, an evening that saw the No. 7 Buckeyes host No. 4 Illinois with a chance to end the three-game losing streak. Ohio State had enjoyed six days to prepare after a discouraging loss to Iowa the previous Sunday and, after a sluggish opening few possessions, finally settled in, rallied and held a 68-64 lead with less than four minutes to play when it all ground to a halt.

Ten missed shots to close the game later, Illinois had closed on a 9-0 run and emerged with a 73-68 win. Washington had taken five of those shots. And as his senior teammates said their goodbyes, he could hardly watch.

Occasionally aimlessly wandering the baseline, Washington spoke to no one as Walker and Young spoke to the crowd. Occasionally, he pulled his jersey over his face. At other times, he clenched a white towel in his fist, or used it to likewise cover his face. At one point, Washington and Walker shared an embrace while a video played on the scoreboard.

When it was done, he went directly to the locker room as some of his teammates hugged or otherwise tried to share the emotions of the moment. What Washington was feeling internally is known only to him. To coach Chris Holtmann and his seniors, though, it was clear.

“He’s fine,” Holtmann said. “He’s just disappointed. He wanted to win for his seniors. He was disappointed. I don’t know what reaction you want a young man to make after the game. He loves CJ. He loves Kyle. That was probably part of it. He was so emotional because he