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6:30 p.m. ET: Big One In The Big Ten As Purdue Visits Ohio State
Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - JaJuan Johnson finished with 24 points and seven rebounds, as fourth-ranked Purdue held on for a 60-57 victory over No. 9 Ohio State, its first-ever win at Value City Arena.
E'Twaun Moore added 15 points, six boards and five assists for the Boilermakers (22-3, 10-3 Big Ten), who were previously 0-6 at this arena. Keaton Grant scored 13 as Purdue ran its winning streak to eight games.
Evan Turner poured in 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Buckeyes (20-7, 10-4), who couldn't overcome a double-digit deficit and had their six-game win streak broken. William Buford and Jon Diebler had 11 and 10 points, respectively, but Diebler missed a potential game-tying three in the closing seconds.
Down seven with just over a minute to play, the Buckeyes rallied to nearly even the game. Dallas Lauderdale's tip-in just under the 60-second mark got OSU within 60-55, and Chris Kramer missed the front end of a 1-and-1 at the other end.
That led to a jumper from Turner, making it a one-possession game with still more than 50 seconds to play. The Boilermakers ran down the shot clock, but Moore’s driving layup attempt rimmed out as the Buckeyes gained possession with under 20 seconds left.
Ohio State had several chances for points, but each failed. First Buford’s layup was blocked by Kramer, and Diebler got the rebound. He dribbled to the top of the arc with under 10 seconds to go, though his three-point try as the final seconds ticked down bounced off the rim as Purdue held on.
Ohio State struggled offensively in the first half, and didn’t crack double- digits until seven minutes left, when Turner’s layup got the Buckeyes within 20-11.
Purdue continued to lead, and a Moore three with just over four minutes to play pushed the Boilermakers’ lead to 29-14. They took a 36-23 advantage into the break.
However, Ohio State started cutting into its deficit shortly into the second. The Buckeyes got six straight points from Turner to get within 43-37 with just over 14 minutes left, and a few minutes later Buford poured in seven straight points to trim OSU’s deficit to 48-46.
Purdue staved off the comeback by getting consecutive baskets from Robbie Hummel and Johnson. The Boilermakers continued to lead down the stretch, though Ohio State stayed within a couple possessions.
With 1:12 on the clock, Moore drew contact and sank two foul shots to put the Boilermakers up 60-53.
The teams split the season series, as OSU won first meeting, 70-66, January 12 in West Lafayette...Ohio State used only six players...Purdue shot 50 percent, while the Buckeyes made 41.7 percent of their shots.
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