Oh, the wonderful highs and painful lows of Ohio State basketball.

Welcome to the first edition of a (hopefully) long and (hopefully) successful series breaking down my most intriguing observations from the hardwood Buckeyes.

Inspired by BuckeyeGrove's very own All-22 Breakdown (which is way more professional!), we'll dive into a little bit of game tape to seek out everything that went right (and wrong) for Ohio State and its opponents.

Where better to start than the wonky game that went down in Columbus on Tuesday night?

Facing a severe size disadvantage against Purdue, Ohio State shot its highest volume of 3-pointers in three years, was outscored 36-8 in the paint, and looked hopeless venturing inside the arc for large portions of its eventual 67-65 loss.

On the other hand, Matt Painter's team feasted on both ends, pressuring the Buckeyes into stagnant offense while forcing the issue in the post.

Let's break down what went wrong on both ends for Ohio State in its fourth loss of the season.

Everything starts with Trevion Williams.

The junior big man-- who posted 16 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in his team's first victory over Ohio State-- continues to be the focal point of a Purdue offense centered around the post; a ridiculous 35.3 percent of the Boilermakers' possessions end in his hands.

Painter has an array of actions centered around a post isolation for Williams, who has impeccable footwork and can score from all angles underneath the rim.

The clip above came from the very first possession of this game. Purdue rotates the ball around the perimeter, setting up what appears to be a stagger screen for Eric Hunter on the right wing. Ohio State responds to the decoy action-- Duane Washington inexplicably hugs his man and Justice Sueing leaps out to defend the curling Hunter, leaving E.J. Liddell one-on-one against Williams, who screened and then sealed under the rim.

Easy basket.

This low-post position was established frequently by Williams and 7-foot-4 Boilermaker behemoth Zach Edey against unprepared, undersized Ohio State defenders.

Without aggressive double-teams or weak-side defenders committed to trapping on every catch, there's no real way to defend Purdue's combination of skill and overwhelming size this close to the promise land.

Edey is still quite raw, but when he receives the ball this close to the basket against one defender, a dunk is the only outcome.

Ohio State was way too committed to the flashy screening action on the perimeter here, especially considering Purdue's 31.2 percent shooting from 3-point range in conference play.

With Ahrens, Sueing, and Washington each hugging their defenders, Edey has nothing but daylight to go to work against the 6-foot-7 Liddell.

The Buckeyes' lack of commitment to trapping the post isn't a back-breaker by itself-- even Purdue, one of the most post-dominant teams in the country, can't win a game by playing bully ball for 40 straight minutes.

The real recipe for disaster is allowing deep post touches and consistent straight-line drives.

Purdue guard Sasha Stefanovic, seen blowing by Eugene Brown III above, entered Tuesday night with seven made 2-point baskets this season (compared to 39 baskets from distance).

The junior proceeded to go 4-for-4 from inside the arc against Ohio State; three of those four baskets came on drives like the one above. Purdue didn't necessarily need much creativity in the lane-- a large chunk of its points in the paint came on head-down drives directly towards the basket. It was simply too easy for the Boilermakers to get to the rim, too much of the time.

Chris Holtmann's teams usually make their money by playing tough, pack-line defense that limits drives to the basket. That wasn't the case on Tuesday night, and it eventually burned the Buckeyes.

Purdue shot 21-for-34 inside the arc against Ohio State. That 61.8 percent mark is the highest a Buckeye team has allowed an opponent to shoot from 2-point range this season by a fair margin.

Combine turnstile interior defense with a horrific performance from inside the arc on the offensive end, and the result is usually a loss.

First of all, let's talk about the outside shooting.

Ohio State attempted 35 3-pointers on Tuesday night, a program high dating back to the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

That number was a result of Purdue's defensive plan working to perfection.

In the midst of its 3-point hysteria, Ohio State made six total shots from inside the arc on Tuesday, its lowest number of made 2-pointers in over 10 seasons.

“We probably took a few too many," Holtmann said of his team's 3-point shooting obsession. "That’s the way their defense is built-- they leave guys open that they want to shoot. They don’t guard you."

RELATED: Ohio State lives and dies from behind 3-point line in loss to Purdue

Those "guys" Holtmann is talking about were primarily Liddell, Musa Jallow, and Kyle Young. Purdue defenders had little interest leaving the paint when matched up with Young or Jallow, instead shadowing Liddell in the paint all evening long and forcing Young (a 25 percent 3-point shooter) to make plays in space.

Notice Williams in the clip above. He makes absolutely no effort to step out past the yellow line and contest a Young 3 at the top of the arc, daring the senior to take a low-percentage shot (which actually went in!).

Believe it or not, the set Ohio State ran here was not supposed to end in Kyle Young taking an early-clock 3-pointer. Against most teams, Young would see token pressure at the top of the arc and lob a pass into the mismatched Liddell for a post bucket-- your classic high-low action.

But Purdue didn't care. It didn't even pretend to care. It let Young and Liddell shoot from the outside whenever they pleased, and it paid off for the visiting side-- the pair combined to shoot 2-for-7 from distance while only attempting seven total shots inside the arc.

Many college basketball teams build their identities around producing constant defensive havoc, but the Boilermakers are content with pressuring the players that need to be pressured and forcing everyone else to play to their weaknesses.

Little aside: When I was in high school, I was a very bad outside shooter on a team that was very good. Needless to say, opposing teams used to stick their big man on me, put him in the paint, and leave me WIDE open for the entirety of games. It worked. It scarred me.

The sequence above presents yet another example of Purdue taking advantage of one of the Buckeyes' most obvious shortcomings: not having an active point guard.

Washington-- for some reason-- is not bringing the ball up here, so Painter amps up his pressure, forcing Seth Towns to set up an offense against the active hands of Jaden Ivey, who promptly forces him into a turnover.

This isn't all a result of game-planning wizardry by Painter and his staff. Ohio State was slow to get into its half-court offense for the majority of the second half, getting easily knocked off spots and resorting to late-clock 3-pointers and wild drives to the basket.

Not having a real lead guard was a huge reason for those issues, but even so, the Buckeyes had essentially zero "good" possessions in the half court in the game's final four minutes.

ALSO: In Purdue loss, Buckeyes let another winnable game slip through the cracks

With under a minute left to play and the game tied, this play was designed for Ahrens to come off a pin-down into an open look. Holtmann runs actions like these constantly for his best shooters, and they usually leads to something positive.

This particular instance had no chance for more than one reason.

To begin, Purdue read the action as soon as it started, forcing Sueing to stay high and knocking Ahrens farther out than normal on his catch. A large portion of credit goes to the Boilermakers here.

Having said that, Ohio State shot itself in the foot, too. It failed to set things up with much urgency, giving Purdue a chance to prepare for the off-ball screening and movement.

For much of this game, the Buckeyes were too stagnant in their actions against an always-prepared defense.

As Washington said afterwards, "When you make shots, it kinda eliminates the other stuff."

Don't be fooled by the outside shooting in this game. The Ohio State offense put together an ugly showing.

In a conference where every team is well-prepared for every game, six 2-point baskets and a 28-point deficit in the paint won't cut it for a team that has relied on its physicality on the interior all season long.

Hopefully Saturday's matchup with Wisconsin presents a few more positive things to look at.

See you then.