EACH WEEK, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK BACK AT A MEMORABLE MOMENT IN ILLINI HISTORY, THANKS TO THE WORDS OF LOREN TATE AND THE MEMORIES OF JIM TURPIN.

This week: Lou Henson's team rallied past Ohio State 55-53 on its way to the 1984 Big Ten title.

Jan. 14, 1984

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hey, White Sox fans, the Illini "won one ugly" Saturday night.

Battling a grim Ohio State quintet that had already lost two straight Big Ten games at St. John Arena, the Illini scratched and clawed from behind to prevail in the final 5 1/2 minutes, 55-53.

It wasn't pretty but it counts as a giant "Road W" in this incredibly balanced conference.

"Our offense wasn't very smooth," understated coach Lou Henson (the UI mixed 15 turnovers with inconsistent shooting).

"But we won it with defense, rebounding and courage. The key was George Montgomery's defensive job on Tony Campbell (14 points). Tony is extremely strong inside and we didn't have anyone else who could handle him. This was a big win for us after what happened to us at Indiana Wednesday."

THE TRIUMPH LIFTS Illinois to 12-2 overall and 3-1 in the league ahead of next Saturday's Assembly Hall date with 4-0 Purdue.

"We've been on the road for three straight games and we're anxious to get home," said Henson. "I think we'll relax and the shots will start to fall. We need to get our shooting percentage back over .500 again."

Last night's third straight UI win over Ohio State was marked by tension and uncertainty on both sides. The Illini, troubled by a quick-handed and jamming Buckeye zone, shot a chilly 38 percent in the first half, then committed a string of backcourt turnovers shortly after intermission and barley survived the late crunch.

Hard-working George Montgomery saved the day by twice tapping UI free throw misses back to Bruce Douglas in the final minute, and Doug Altenberger clinched it with a pair of charities to make it 54-49 with 20 seconds showing. Illinois was ahead 55-51 before Dave Jones scored OSU's final basket at the buzzer.

ILLINOIS LED BRIEFLY at 6-5, then went stone-cold and never led again from the fourth minute until the 25th minute.

But down the stretch, the Illini were applying more and more pressure against an undersized foe (Illinois led in rebounds 35 to 26) that only occasionally drew real enthusiasm from the home crowd.

Efram Winters, going 4-for-12 in a continuation of his shooting slump, knotted it 34-34 at 10:35, and Illinois caught up again at 36-36 and 38-38 before Tony Campbell and Jones shot OSU up, 42-38, around Quinn Richardson's sixth turnover (he had just 10 errors in 13 previous games).

Richardson made a free throw and Douglas a three-point play to knot it again, 44-44, and Montgomery went high in front of the rim to tip in Winters' driving miss with 4:13 showing.

Chicago Weber rookie Clarence McGee tied it for OSU, but Altenberger knifed in for a twisting layin and Winters stood firm to draw a charge from Jones on the other end. When Winters converted two free throws at 2:57, Illinois led 50-46. Jones brought it back to 50-48, whereupon the leaping Montgomery twice saved second-shot free throw misses by Altenberger and Douglas as Illinois inched ahead 52-48 in the final minute.

ALTENBERGER CLINCHED IT and the Illini, matching their balanced overtime effort at Wisconsin, won without an individual scoring more than 12 points.

"Ohio State was real quick defensively," said Altenberger, "and that bothered me. I don't think we were mentally ready for it. Offensively, we weren't sharp. We were out of synch.

"We've been on the road for awhile and it'll be good to get back home. You can't imagine what a boost the home crowd will be. Indiana's crowd was unreal and it really fired them up. Ohio State's crowd was more passive. I think the fans are down on the Buckeyes."

Fellow sophomore Bruce Douglas called both teams "impatient offensively." Said the former Quincy star:

Neither team could take advantage of the other. We should have been more aggressive in taking advantage of our size. We were too timid. The refs were letting us play - you could do almost anything inside - but that's also the reason we missed a lot of close shots. It's easy to miss when you're being hacked and fouled."

But, in Henson's words, the Illini "gutted it out" and made a giant profit on the day as Indiana, Michigan State and Michigan all tumbled. That sets up consecutive dates with Purdue and the Michigan Schools.