WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Overcoming a 14-point deficit, No. 14 Ohio State defeated No. 3 Purdue 64-63, ending the Boilermakers' 19-game winning streak and their 21-home game winning streak. The Buckeyes now take hold of first place in the Big Ten with the win over Purdue.
Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop hit a layup with 2.8 seconds left in the game to give the Buckeyes their second lead of the half. Bates-Diop recorded his third-straight double-double and his 11th double-double of the season, recording 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Bates-Diop said, after the game, that that specific shot was the best of his season so far. He also said that the initial play, despite being called for him, actually favored forward Jae'Sean Tate.
"I knew if he was going to miss, he was going to miss long," Bates-Diop said. "So, I was going for the offensive rebound and no one boxed me out."
With two Big Ten teams combined for conference records of 24-1 going into the game, Ohio State had a rough start offensively against the No. 3 Boilermakers. The Buckeyes failed to connect on their first seven shot attempts, including four misses from three.
Purdue could not take advantage of Ohio State’s slow start. Despite two layups by Issac Haas and Carsen Edwards, the Boilermakers made only two of their first eight shot attempts, leading 5-0 when Ohio State connected on its first basket of the game, a layup by Jae’Sean Tate with 14:26 left in the half.
Tate’s layup woke the Buckeye offense up as it ignited an 8-0 run, giving Ohio State a three-point lead, their biggest lead of the half.
That is when Haas and Edwards took over. After Haas’ layup to tie the game at 11 with 11:48 to go in the half, both players combined for 19 of Purdue’s next 22 points.
Much of that had to do with Haas’ presence down low. In the first half, he drew seven of Ohio State’s 10 total fouls, making four of seven attempts at the free throw line. As he went to the locker room, freshman forward Kaleb Wesson had three fouls, with forwards Kyle Young and Micah Potter each recording two. Edwards got involved at the charity stripe as well, making all five attempts from the line.
Trailing by nine with 2:35 left in the first half; Ohio State started to heat up again offensively. Freshman guard Musa Jallow hit his second three of the game, starting a 7-0 run to bring the game within two as the buzzer sounded. In five minutes of play in the half, Jallow hit both his attempts from three, recording six points and a rebound.
After not connecting on a shot for over a month, Jallow had 10 points, making three of four attempts from three in the Ohio State win. He said it was due to countless reps in the gym over the past few weeks.
"If you are going to shoot it, you might as well shoot it with confidence," Jallow said. "I knew I put the reps in and enough work to make them."
Coming out of the second half, Purdue started to heat up from behind the arc. After Potter tied the game at 33 with a dunk, Purdue guard Dakota Mathias hit the first three of the half, starting a 12-3 run for the Boilermakers, including three three-point makes from Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards respectively.
Ohio State was not able to keep up with the Boilermakers from three at the start of the second half. The Buckeyes missed their first four attempts from deep with guard C.J. Jackson recording two misses.
With the Boilermakers leading the Buckeyes by eight, Carsen Edwards continued his hot streak. Starting with his fourth make from three, he made six straight points, extending Purdue's lead to 53-39 with 10:17 left in the game.
Trailing by 14, Jallow and the Buckeye offense would not go away. Jallow hit his third three of the game, igniting a 9-0 run. Ohio State was not done either. With five points from Andre Wesson and a jumper from Andrew Dakich, the Buckeyes, with a 18-5 run, cut the Boilermakers' lead down to 58-57 with 3:49 left in the game.
With 1:14 left in the game, Andre Wesson hit his third three pointer of the game, giving Ohio State its first lead of the second half. However, Vincent Edwards immediately gave Purdue the one-point lead on the and-one jumper.
With Bates-Diop making the layup with three seconds left, Ohio State secured its 12th conference win of the season, defeating No. 3 Purdue by one point.
With all of the confidence after defeating the No. 3 team in the nation, Bates-Diop said that this win was specifically big for the Buckeyes as a whole.
"I think it’s the best road environment in the Big Ten, so to win here and show the composure that we had was big for our team," Bates-Diop said.
Ohio State will return home to Value City Arena on Saturday to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes at 6 pm.
