Ohio State was picked to finish 11th in the Big Ten in the preseason. It made sense. Thad Matta was let go in June, the roster was in flux, and the team was coming off a 17-15 season.
Ohio State is the surprise Big Ten leader with 3 weeks to play after upsetting Purdue
No one expected Ohio State to be doing this.
Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Now, with three weeks left in the regular season, Ohio State is leading the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes earned their biggest win of the season on Wednesday night, upsetting No. 3 Purdue, 64-63, at Mackey Arena.
Purdue was on a 19-game winning streak and entered the night undefeated in the conference. The Boilermakers led OSU by 14 points with 10 minutes left. Then Keita Bates-Diop and Andre Wesson took over.
Bates-Diop — your front-runner for Big Ten Player of the Year — put in the game-winning bucket with 2.8 seconds left.
Purdue had one more chance, but Isaac Haas missed a fadeaway after an impressive full-court pass in the final seconds.
Ohio State ended the game on a 25-10 run.
Bates-Diop finished with a team-high 18 points. Carsen Edwards had 28 points for Purdue in the loss.
See More:
