Ohio State traveled to West Lafeyette on Sunday with an opportunity to move back into the #1 spot in the country after losses by Kansas, Texas and Pitt in the few days prior. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the Buckeyes, who dropped their second game on the season to a highly-energized Purdue team playing on their home court. The 76-63 final was the result of Ohio State not being able to consistently match the intensity of the Boilermakers or find an answer for E’Twaun Moore, who finished with a career high 38 points to lead all scorers on the game.
The afternoon got off to a quick start for both teams. Jared Sullinger asserted himself early with two nice post moves to get an early 4 on the board for the Buckeyes. However, Ohio State was unable to get any other player going to balance the attack, as William Buford picked up two quick fouls and was forced to the bench before the 17-minute mark. One bright spot in the first half for Ohio State was Jon Diebler tying the all-time Big Ten record for 3-pointers made. Diebler knocked down #333 at around 16:00, amusingly on a shot-clock beating fallaway rather than one of his signature spot-up bombs from deep.
Ohio State struggled throughout the first after Buford’s early exit, exhibiting a disjointed offense that racked up nine turnovers and only shot 6-10 on free throw’s. The team put together a short run near the end of the half when Buford checked back into the game, but then it was Sullinger’s turn to go to the bench with fouls, and Purdue took a 37-33 lead into the break. E’Twaun Moore led all scorers with 18, a significant number of them coming in the final few minutes of the half.
As the second half began, Diebler hit his second three of the game to take sole possession of the all-time Big Ten mark. However, Ohio State continued to have problems getting an offense going, and Purdue opened up a 10-point margin. E’Twaun Moore continued his blistering shooting, always finding an opening and knocking down the shot just when Purdue needed a boost to prevent the Buckeyes from getting too close.
Ohio State finally showed some life with just over seven minutes remaining when David Lighty hit two free throw’s and Jared Sullinger followed it up with an and-1 dunk on the fast break. However, despite cutting the lead down to as little as four points and Aaron Craft playing with outstanding intensity on the defensive end, missed free throw’s from Lighty were a bit of an achilles heel for the Buckeyes down the stretch. It seemed that Purdue, and especially Moore, capitalized on the other end, and additional turnovers effectively disrupted the bid for a comeback.
Sullinger finished the game with 25 points to lead Ohio State, while Jon Diebler contributed 11. Overall the team actually shot a decent percentage from the line, going 23-29 for a 79% mark, but the misses came at key times. The team’s 18 turnovers also were a notable issue. For Purdue, Moore played a simply outstanding game, complementing his 38 points with 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.
The loss for the Buckeyes makes it a contest now to see who will finish the season as the Big Ten champion. Ohio State will attempt to bounce back on Tuesday night when they play host to Illinois. That game will be at 7:00pm, and we’ll be here with the liveblog for the action.
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