INDIANAPOLIS – Ohio State basketball has survived a double-digit Purdue return to deflect the Boilermakers 87-78 in overtime Friday to advance to the Big Ten semifinal against Michigan.
The Buckeyes advanced, despite struggling again in the second half and losing an 18-point lead at halftime. .
1:48 ahead, Trevion Williams (26 points) hit a hook over EJ Liddell (17 points) to reduce Ohio State’s lead to two points. With the next possession, he leveled the game with another hook shot. These points led to a 9-0 run for the Boilermakers, while the Buckeyes could not score for 5:02, until Justice Sueing (six points) made two free kicks to give them a 72-70 lead.
Williams responds again with another lineup to level the game. With 10 seconds to set up a match winner, CJ Walker dripped into traffic and lost the ball as time ran out.
In the first overtime of the season, the state of Ohio received a much-needed boost from Seth Towns, the three of which provided 2:54 over a four-point cushion, and then followed with a receding jersey. With the next possession, OSU performed the same action a third consecutive time and Duane Washington Jr. (20 points) connected on an open try to make 83-76.
Purdue never got the game back within six.
Behind the shooting of Kyle Young, the Buckeyes led 49-31 at halftime. The senior big man made just nine tries all season but was 4-for-5 in the first half. He hit three straight from outside the arc within the first five minutes of the game.
Then he put the perfect punctuation marks on the flawless first 20 minutes, with his fourth try ending the half with 18 points. He played just four minutes in the second half before taking an elbow to Williams’ head. He had a similar collision at the end of the Michigan game on Feb. 21, and he entered a concussion protocol and missed OSU’s next game against Michigan State.
The Buckeyes did everything right in the first half and shot 56 percent from the field, while the Boilermakers struggled to do much of anything. They shot just 39 percent, while big man Zach Edey (11 points) was the only player to have an effective half.
How impressive it was to take an 18-point lead at halftime would be the real test of how OSU would perform in the final 20 minutes.
Purdue’s run came as expected. Jaden Ivey, the same player responsible for returning to Columbus during the regular season, scored the 19th points. Nine came on three consecutive tries in a 90-second span. While Purdue made his run, Ohio State could not score a field goal more than 8:20.
The Buckeyes have shown a lack of stance in the last minutes for the past three weeks, and this has followed them in the first two games in Indianapolis.
What’s next
Ohio’s reward for finally winning Purdue is a second chance at Michigan. The two played in one of the best games for the regular season of the year in a 92-87 victory over Wolverines.
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