Purdue Outplayed By OSU, Drop 2nd Straight

Both teams entered Sunday’s game coming off a loss. Ohio State played arguably its worst game of the season, a 74-57 loss at Iowa. That was a game that the Buckeyes desperately needed to remove themselves from the NCAA tournament bubble.

What a difference they showed against Purdue.

The backcourt tandem of sophomore John Mosely, Jr. (21 points) and senior Bruce Thornton (20), torched the Boilermakers for half of their 82 points. The duo combined for 8-for-17 shooting from distance, and their 41 points came on just 24 shots.

In the first half, both teams traded punches, and neither was able to pull ahead of the other. Purdue bolted to a 16-9 lead with 13:09 left in the half after C.J. Cox‘s second three-pointer. That marked the largest lead of the game for the Boilermakers.

After that, the Boilers went almost four-and-a-half minutes before their next field goal, a three from Fletcher Loyer with 8:44 remaining. During that stretch, Ohio State went on a 14-3 run to take a 23-19 lead at the 6:40 mark.

Most of the Boilermakers were ice cold from the field, but Cox kept Purdue close at 27-24 with another long-range shot at the under-four-minute media timeout. Loyer stepped up and drained his third straight long-range bucket, making the score 32-30, with just over a minute remaining. OSU’s 57% first-half shooting kept the Boilers at bay, and the Buckeyes held a 36-31 advantage at the break.

Before Sunday, Purdue was 0-3 in games when losing by four or more points at halftime. That trend continued.

Ohio State outscored the Boilers 12-3 in the first three minutes of the second half, and Purdue never seriously threatened after that. Trey Kaufman-Renn tried to keep the Boilermakers close, and his three-point play cut the deficit to 52-45 with just over 13 minutes remaining.

The Buckeyes’ next possession encapsulated the frustrating nature of the game from a Purdue fan’s perspective. Down seven, the Boilers were unable to secure rebounds twice, allowing Ohio State three chances at scoring. Thornton took that third chance and drilled a three, making the score 55-45 with 12 minutes remaining.

Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter, who actively recruited Thornton as a high schooler and as a possible transfer, heaped praise on the Buckeye guard.

“Yeah he’s great, man,” he said. “A lot of young people aren’t professional. He’s a professional.

“He’s what college basketball is all about. He could’ve ran. He could’ve transferred. He could have done all that stuff. He stayed. He competed. He’s fought to be in this position. He has a lot of individual accolades but I know the way he’s wired. I know his high school coaches. That’s all they kept saying, that ‘This kid is the biggest winner. This kid is all about his team.”

Purdue was unable to find its range in the second half. Braden Smith‘s three-pointer with 47.2 seconds left in the game was the team’s first long ball of the second half, but Ohio State salted the game away at the free-throw line.

Purdue’s Boss Frustrated With His Team

Painter did not mince words following his team’s latest loss, and his message centered around focus and toughness.

“Ohio State played harder than us,” he said. “There’s nobody out there who said, ‘Ohio State was better, but man, Purdue played harder.’ There’s not one person, even some wrestler who doesn’t know basketball, who is saying it. That’s not been our deal through the last 50 years. That’s not been our deal.”

Painter went on to imply that his experienced seniors, Smith, Loyer, and Kaufman-Renn, need to step up. For Smith and Loyer, Sunday was their 139th start as a Boiler, the most in program history.

“I wish it was one guy, I could fix it. It’s not, it’s collectively, as a team,” he said. “It’s guys who have played in 125 games and it’s guys that have played in 28 games.”

The disappointment in his big men’s play, especially the foul trouble suffered by Oscar Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen, did not sit well with Painter.

“They need to stop fouling,” he bluntly said. “Stick to your rules, do what you’re supposed to in ball-screen defense and post defense. You can be physical without fouling. You gotta be able to guard your position, but you also have to be able to anchor the back line.”

End Of My Purdue Rant: Boilers Limping Into Postseason

The ambitious thoughts in November held by most of Boiler Nation have turned to worries and hopes of simply righting the ship. Though currently ranked eighth in the country, their standing will certainly fall precipitously after going 0-2 last week.

What’s done is done, and nothing can be changed from the previous seven days. What can change is how Purdue goes about their business going forward. To say the Boilers could use an attitude adjustment, especially on the defensive end, would be a vast understatement.

Wednesday marks the next chance to turn things around when Purdue visits the Northwestern Wildcats for an 8:30 pm EST tip-off.