#16 Purdue 75 – Ohio State 50

In what could very well be a body blow to the Ohio State Buckeyes (18-9) tournament hopes, the #16 Purdue Boilermakers (22-7) exacted their revenge Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette by trouncing OSU 75-50.

 

Down only 6 points at half time, Ohio State gave up 43 points in the second half to get thoroughly embarrassed by the Boilermakers. It was a whole round of bad games had by the individual Buckeyes. Headlining that row of defeat was Jon Diebler who hit only 2 of 12 shots from the field for 6 points. Everybody else looked hesitant, and on their heels for the entire second half.

 

Only Evan Turner performed well, scoring 14 points on 5-11 shooting. But if the rest of your team is stagnant, and unable to really do anything at all on the offensive end, isn’t it up the star to take over or at least try? Turner should have been driving to the rim, getting the Boilermakers in foul trouble, instead of flailing on defense and himself fouling out of the game. Jeremie Simmons and B.J. Mullens contributed well off the bench, but their combined 13 points was not nearly enough to make up for the Buckeyes inept starting group.

 

Purdue, who had previously lost in OT to the Buckeyes in Columbus, had all of the answers. They had four players in double figures, including Robbie Hummel who missed the previous Columbus meeting, but game back strong in this game to score 17 points. For the game, the Boilermakers shot nearly 55%, including 9-19 from 3-point range. Throw in a 21 to 10 assist advantage, and it was clear the divide in offensive execution was gaping.

 

This doesn’t knock the Buckeyes out of anything, yet. They got beat up by a really good team on the road, and that happens. However, losing games like this so close to selection Sunday is a dangerous position. With the Buckeyes stuck on 18 wins, they will need to go into Iowa and win, then beat Northwestern in Columbus to ensure a tourney birth. If they can go into the Big Ten Tournament with the 20 win plateau already reached, they should be all set.