The Ohio State men’s basketball team (18-11, 10-8) faced Purdue (22-7, 12-6) Sunday afternoon, which was about as close to a “do or die” game as it could possibly be without mathematically being a do-or-die game. With three games remaining, Ohio State came into Sunday’s game desperately needing to pin a big-time, quality win on its resume. Neither Penn State nor Indiana would be that (as far as the analytics are concerned), so a win for the Buckeyes felt mandatory.
Purdue, on the other hand, just
lost at home to Michigan State on Thursday night, and came into Sunday’s game 1-2 in their last three games.
The visiting Boilermakers got a pair of three-pointers from sophomore guard C.J. Cox in the first few minutes, which helped give Purdue an early 16-9 lead after seven minutes of play. Ohio State was getting good looks on its end, but John Mobley Jr., who entered the game shooting 40.8% from three, missed each of his first three three-point attempts early in the game.
Purdue went on a scoring drought for 2:26, and in the meantime, Ohio State got baskets from Mobley and A’mare Bynum to bring it back within a point, 16-15, with just under 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
Mobley had a good 20-second stretch late in the first half that felt like it gave the Buckeyes some momentum at the time. Trailing 19-16 with 8:17 remaining in the opening stanza, Mobley buried his second three-pointer of the game from the far side of the floor to tie the game at 19.
Then, 20 seconds later, he stood in and took a charge from Purdue’s 260-pound Australian center, Oscar Cluff. The whistle went against Purdue, and kept the game tied, 19-19, with 7:57 remaining until halftime.
Mobley’s three was the beginning of what would turn into an 11-2 run for the Buckeyes, as Ohio State took a 30-24 lead over Purdue on another Mobley three with 3:28 remaining in the first half. Mobley was freed up by a huge screen set by Ivan Njegovan, as Fletcher Loyer ran directly into him and then crumpled onto the ground, holding his face. Mobley took advantage of the space and buried his third three-pointer of the game.
Thornton scored at the basket to put Ohio State up 36-31 right before the halftime buzzer, and Ohio State carried a lead into the locker room at halftime for the first time since February 17 against Wisconsin. The Buckeyes held Purdue to 3-for-14 shooting (21.4%) on two-point shots in the first half, while Ohio State was 8-for-11 on two-point shots. Mobley and Bynum combined for 21 points in the first half.
Ohio State got points from Mobley, Royal, and Tilly in the first two minutes of the second half, outscoring the Boilers 9-3 to start the half and pulling ahead 45-34. Mobley’s fourth made three of the game put Ohio State up 11 with 17:59 left to play, and Matt Painter was forced to call timeout.
The Buckeyes extended their lead to as much as 14 early in the second half, but Kaufman-Renn responded, scoring six points in a row for the Boilermakers to cut the lead down to seven points, 52-45, with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game. Thornton responded with a three-pointer off a nice feed from Mobley to push it back to 10 with 12:02 remaining.
Purdue continued to keep Ohio State within arm’s length in that 8-10 point range for awhile, but a steal by Taison Chatman led to a fast break bucket, and 53 seconds later Mobley knocked down his fifth three of the game to put Ohio State up 14 again, 65-51, with 7:42 remaining.
Kaufman-Renn once again had an answer — seemingly the only Boilermaker who could do so in the second half — by scoring five consecutive points for Purdue. That cut Ohio State’s lead to 67-58 with 4:22 remaining — the closest Purdue had been in over six minutes.
The 8th-ranked Boilermakers made it close and caused some sweaty final minutes for Ohio State fans, but the Buckeyes were able to hit their free throws in the final 50 seconds, icing away a 82-74 win that put some serious juice into Ohio State’s NCAA Tournament chances.
Here are some of the key moments that mattered during Ohio State’s biggest win of the season:
Cox goes back-to-back
After Bruce Thornton hit a three to cut Purdue’s lead to 10-9 with 14:16 remaining in the first half, Purdue’s C.J. Cox banged threes on each of the next two possessions, giving the Boilermakers a 16-9 lead with 13:12 remaining in the first half. Cox was one of three Boilermakers (Loyer and Smith being the others) to make multiple three-pointers in the first half.
Mobley ties it, takes big charge
Loyer buried a three-pointer to give Purdue a 19-16 lead with 8:46 left in the first half, but 29 seconds later Mobley knocked one down on the opposite end to immediately tie the game at 19. On the ensuing Purdue possession, Mobley stood tall and took a heavy shoulder from Cluff, who blasted Mobley to the ground. An offensive foul was called on Cluff, giving the ball back to Ohio State.
Mobley pushes Ohio State’s lead to double-digits, forces Purdue timeout
After slithering through the defense to score and give Ohio State a 42-34 lead, Loyer missed a three for Purdue. On the next Ohio State possession, Loyer ran directly into a screen set by Njegovan, sending Loyer to the ground and giving Mobley a ton of space to shoot. The sophomore buried the triple to put Ohio State up double digits for the first time all day, 45-34, with 18 minutes left in the game. Matt Painter called timeout.
TKR scores six straight for Purdue
Royal hit a pair of free throws that he earned by grabbing an offensive rebound on a missed free throw by Bynum, giving Ohio State its biggest lead of the afternoon, 48-34, with 17:08 remaining. Kaufman-Renn answered for Purdue, going on a 6-2 run all by himself, scoring on both Njegovan and Tilly, to cut the lead to 50-40, and then Cox scored off a Taison Chatman turnover to make it 50-42 with 13:55 remaining.
Chatman with the steal and score to go up 13
Seven seconds after airballing a three that would’ve put Ohio State up 14, Chatman reached out and stole the ball from Braden Smith, who was being fast and loose with the ball. Chatman went the other way with it and scored at the basket to put Ohio State up 62-49 with 9:04 remaining in the game.
Chatman passes up layup, passes to Bynum for open 3
Up 69-63 with 2:17 remaining, Chatman had a wide-open look for a layup, but passed it up to pass to Bynum in the corner, who buried his only three-pointer of the game to put Ohio State up 72-63.
