Purdue 65 – Ohio State 61

 

Led by Evan Turner’s 22 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists, and followed closely by 15 points put in by both Buford and Diebler, the Buckeyes came up just short. They came up short mostly because only those three players showed up at all. With only Dallas Lauderdale, B.J. Mullens, and Jeremie Simmons adding only 4, 3, and 2 points respectively, the Buckeyes looked lost when Turner wasn’t creating everything for them.

 

The Buckeyes defense, though impressive on the whole for the day, was unable to come up with the biggest stops they needed in the last few minutes, allowing Purdue to get offensive rebound after offensive rebound, at points letting the Boilermakers get 4 possessions instead of one. All in all the Buckeyes defense gave up 14 offensive rebounds, most of them in the second half.

 

The Boilermakers, who could only shoot 34% on the day, were held to 8-25 from deep, but if you take 13 more shots than the other team, then you’ve got a dang good shot at winning. Their own trio led the Boilermakers; Robbie Hummel had 9 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. JaJuan Johnson, who scored at will against the Buckeyes the entire season, scored 16 points, and E’Twaun Moore also added 17 points.

 

With this loss the Buckeyes cost themselves a much better seed in the tournament, and set themselves up for a near impossible game in the second round of the tournament. As a #8 seed, it is going to take the best of the best from this Ohio State team to make any noise in this tournament at all.