Brandon Paul had a night to remember, almost doubling his career high in points and converting eight three-pointers to lead Illinois to a 79-74 win over No. 5 Ohio State on Tuesday night. Paul scored 43 points and pulled down eight rebounds, putting the Fighting Illini over the hump in by far their biggest win of the year.

Early on, Illinois’ (4-1 Big Ten, 15-3 overall) strategy was to work the ball into the post to sophomore Meyers Leonard, who is the center in the four-guard, one-post player strategy that Bruce Weber employs. But the Fighting Illini got into a habit of forcing the ball into their big man, turning the ball over four times in the first five minutes of the game.

The lack of size killed Illinois in the paint — the Buckeyes grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and scored 10 of their first 12 points inside the key. Leonard more than held his own against Jared Sullinger, scoring 14 points on 7-12 shooting, but the inside game slowed down when Sullinger was in the game.

But that was inconsequential for the Fighting Illini, because it was the Paul show.

The junior guard sealed the victory by scoring the last 15 points of the game for Illinois, including a ridiculous, off-balanced shot with a hand in his face that gave it a four point lead with 43 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, Paul swooped in on Sullinger in the post and blasted the ball into the stands, one of his four blocked shots on the night.

When Ohio State (3-2, 15-3) went on its big scoring runs, Paul brought Illinois back into the game. With the Buckeyes up eight in the first half, he scored eight-straight to tie the game up. Right after halftime with the Fighting Illini down nine, he made three shots from downtown in five minutes, finding himself open in the corner after some punishing screens from Leonard.

As a team, Illinois shot 60-percent from the floor and 61-percent from deep, using its four guards on the floor to stretch out Ohio State’s defense.

Still, the Buckeyes were in this one until the very end, behind another dominating performance from their frontcourt. Sullinger scored 21 points, including two 3-pointers, and sophomore forward Deshaun Thomas added 23. Ohio State seemed to be in control all game, physically dominating Illinois and forcing 17 turnovers. 

But the late heroics of Paul were too much to overcome, sending Ohio State to its second loss in 11 days.