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COLUMBUS, Ohio - To characterize Sunday's pivotal game against Wisconsin, Mike Davis tossed out a baseball term.

"I see it as a Game 7," he said. "Win or go home for postseason play."

"It's any kind of elimination game you can think of," Mike Tisdale added.

If the NCAA tournament prognosticators are correct, Illinois has some anxious moments ahead after No. 6 Ohio State won 73-57 before 16,177 at Value City Arena on Tuesday.

Two weeks ago - shoot, five days ago - this isn't where the Illini expected to be, squarely on the bubble and in need of another win to sleep well on the eve of Selection Sunday. A home loss to Minnesota on Saturday made things, um, interesting. The loss at Ohio State made things downright nerve-racking, in regards to earning a spot in the NCAA tournament.

"We put ourselves in this situation," coach Bruce Weber said. "It shouldn't be a stressful one; it's just a challenge, it's a great opportunity."

Illinois will face No. 15 Wisconsin in back-to-back games: first on Sunday at the Assembly Hall (11 a.m., ESPN) and in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten tournament next Friday. Bracketologists seem to be in agreement: an Illini (18-12, 10-7 Big Ten) split is paramount.

"Emerging triumphant in either game with Wisconsin becomes an absolute necessity," Yahoo! Sports bracketologist Brad Evans said after Tuesday's result. "If the Illini were to split the critical two-game series, a No. 11 seed seems plausible."

The Illini upset the Badgers in Madison, which could be good (Illinois knows it can win) or bad (Wisconsin's peeved). Either way, Illinois is in a funk at the worst time, and the schedule hasn't done it any favors. Tuesday's loss was their fourth in five games, and it gave Ohio State at least a share of its third Big Ten title under Hoopeston's Thad Matta.

For the second time in as many meetings, Ohio State shot like the ball was guided by lasers. The Buckeyes made 10 of 21 three-pointers (47.6 percent). In a 72-53 rout at the Assembly Hall, the Buckeyes made 11 of 22 treys (50 percent).

Midway through the second half, a group of protesters began chanting in the arena. (Who knows what point they were trying to get across; fans were buzzing from the imminent celebration.) Perhaps they were lobbying for Jon Diebler's inclusion in the NBA's three-point shooting contest. He nailed seven three-pointers, including five in the first half.

Possession after possession, the Illini defense inexplicably forgot to locate Diebler, who had made six more three-pointers in their first meeting. The Illini don't have the horses to race with the Buckeyes when they shoot like that.

To add insult to defeat, Davis said, the Buckeyes let them hear about it after putting the Illini on the NIT's doorstep.

"Evan's (Turner) out there talking trash, telling Demetri (McCamey) the game's already over, we're going to win," said Davis (nine points, 10 rebounds). "It's just kind of disrespectful. It's kind of a slap in the face to us. But they won, they beat us, they're a great team, they've got so many weapons."

"He (Turner) wasn't talking trash. He was crying most of the time about fouls and things like that," McCamey said. "You know Evan. He's going to talk, one way or the other."

Turner had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Ohio State ((24-7, 14-4). Earlier in the day, at the team's shootaround, he pointed at the four retired jerseys in the rafters and asked a staffer how he can get his name up there. The nation's most dominant player carried the Big Ten trophy into the postgame news conference.

"Haven't seen this (trophy) in a while, so I brought it with," he said with a grin.

As Turner (16 points, 12 rebounds) checked out of the game with one minute left, Ohio State fans chanted, "One more year! One more year!" in hopes of luring the likely lottery pick back for a senior season. Students stormed the court at the final buzzer.

"These are the moments they tell you about when you are being recruited, so it was really cool," Turner said.

Ohio State locked up the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament. It's the third time since 2006 that Ohio State has won Big Ten football and men's and women's basketball titles in the same year.

McCamey had 18 points and seven assists to lead Illinois.

"I thought Demetri did a great job keeping us in the game," Weber said.

By virtue of Minnesota's loss to Michigan on Tuesday, the Illini will have an opening-round bye and the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament.

"It's all or nothing now," McCamey said, adding, "We're a good team, but we can be real special when everybody's clicking. We've got to get back to that."

Outside their locker room, the Illini talked about the regular-season finale as if it were a Game 7, in Davis' words. It's an early tip (11 a.m.), and UI officials don't recall a recent Sunday game played that early.

"We've got to have the crowd. I don't understand 11 a.m. Sunday morning, how anyone could allow that game to be played then. I'll be honest," Weber said. "But it is. Now I've got to ask our fans (for support). They've been great all year. They've had great energy, stuck with us (through the highs and lows) and we'll need them on Sunday, even though it's early.

"They've got to get up early, go to church early, say some prayers, get fired up and give us energy on Sunday. It will not be easy, though."