COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State basketball is on its longest losing streak in 21 years.

With a 79-67 loss to Purdue (13-6, 6-2 Big Ten) Wednesday night in the Schottenstein Center, the Buckeyes (12-6, 2-5 Big Ten) are now on the wrong end of five consecutive games.

"Anytime you lose five straight it definitely sucks, especially this one. It really hurts," Ohio State junior guard Andre Wesson said. "But the season goes on."

All of Ohio State’s struggles during this five-game losing streak can be summed up by a six-minute stretch in the first half against the Boilermakers.

The Buckeyes failed to make a field goal, turned the ball over eight times and allowed three Purdue triples during a 22-1 Boilermaker run between the 10:57 and 4:54 marks of the first half. That being said, what once looked like an egg-laying by Ohio State turned into a battle during the latter portion of the second half.

"You can't turnover 13 times in the first half and expect to put yourself in a position that you need to be in," coach Chris Holtmann said.

Most expected Purdue junior guard Carsen Edwards, who averages 24.6 points a game this year, to take over for the Boilermakers. He did as such, finishing with 27 points and some crucial baskets to keep his team ahead.

Few expected Andre Wesson to explode for 22 points to keep winning hopes alive -- on a 9/9 shooting start. That and the squad’s revived three-point shooting, they went 10/22 Wednesday.

"I thought Andre's spirit and competitiveness really carried this group," Holtmann said.

When the threes aren’t falling, a classic strategy is to work inside out. Hit a few shots in the paint, suck the defense in, get more space on the perimeter.

That’s where Ohio State found early success. It opened on a 6-0 run, all on looks within five feet of the basket, while Purdue started 0/7 from the field and entered the first media timeout trailing 6-3.

Cold shooting wasn’t all affecting Purdue’s offense though. Ohio State forced six turnovers in the opening nine minutes of action, converting for nine points in transition. The Boilermakers managed no points of takeaways in the same stretch. The lead stood 17-8 with 10:57 left in the first half. 14 of the Buckeyes’ 17 came at either close range or from the free throw line.

That’s when everything went awry.

A pair of threes from Purdue seniors Grady Eifert and Ryan Cline slashed the lead to 17-16. Edwards tallied six of the final 14 on the run, and Purdue was ahead 30-18.

Making matters worse, sophomore forward Kaleb Wesson picked up three fouls during the stretch. It hindered his effectiveness the rest of the night, and Ohio State’s leading 2018-2019 scorer finished with six.

Holtmann picked up a technical following Wesson's third foul in the first half.

"They were adamant that [the foul] was on him, and they were adamant that he hit [the Purdue player] in the head," Holtmann said. "It was a critical call and I made that clear to [the officials]."

Still, Andre Wesson did everything he could to keep the team alive. He hit a half-court heave at the halftime buzzer to slice the lead to ten, and hit two more deep balls in the second half to hold it around that advantage.

Then it boiled down to a battle of team wills, and on a smaller scale, Wesson versus Edwards.

The former knocked home four points during a 12-1 Ohio State run to cut the lead to its smallest in over 15 minutes of game time, at 54-50 Purdue with 12:30 to play.

Edwards hit a pair of free throws and responded to another Wesson triple to keep the Boilermakers up 61-56.

Redshirt senior guard Keyshawn Woods hit two from the charity stripe to cut the lead to three, and sophomore guard Musa Jallow did likewise on a three soon after. This was the closest Ohio State after surrendering the early run, down 64-61 with 7:03 remaining.

"Our team had really good spirit tonight," Holtmann said. "The players deserve credit for that."

Ohio State now falls to 2-5 in conference play, with games at Nebraska and Michigan next on the schedule. This losing streak could easily extend to seven, in fact it’s favored to

Something needs to turn around quick if this team has any NCAA tournament aspirations.

"We've gotta play more sound," Holtmann said. "I've gotta make sure we learn from this, and take steps forward."