The Purdue basketball team wanted to end the day-long celebrations in Columbus, Ohio, but they could not halt the festivities.
Just one day after their football team won their school’s ninth national championship, the Ohio State Buckeye hoops squad outlasted the 11th-ranked Boilermakers on Tuesday night by a score of 73-70 in West Lafayette, IN. The win snapped a seven-game winning streak for Purdue and dropped their record to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in their nine Big 10 games. Ohio State finally tasted triumph after a three-game skid–in which they lost those three games by five points–to improve their overall record to 11-8 and 3-5 in conference play.
Buckeye guard Micah Parrish carried his Buckeye teammates, scoring 22 points, 17 of which came in the second half, and drained six three-point field goals. Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn led all scorers with 26 points.
After 20 minutes, it appeared that Purdue would run Ohio State right out of Mackey Arena. The Boilers assisted on five of their first seven made baskets, and a C.J. Cox three-point play put Purdue up 17-9 with 12:22 to go in the first half. Their lead was primarily due to their stifling defense, as they held Ohio State to 25% shooting during the game’s first nine minutes.
The tenacious Boiler defense continued; after 13 minutes of play, Ohio State managed only four field goals while committing four turnovers.
With 5:36 to go before the half, Fletcher Loyer made two free throws, extending the Purdue lead to 29-13, their largest game lead. They matched that lead at 41-25 just before the intermission, but Buckeye guard Bruce Thornton, who entered the game averaging 17.4 points per game, hit his first bucket of the game, a three-pointer, right before the first-half buzzer. That made the score 41-28 at the break.
However, that last shot was a sign of things to come in the second half.
Ohio State got right back into the game in the first minutes after the halftime break, going on an 11-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half to cut the Purdue lead to 43-39. Thornton used the momentum from his last shot of the first half, hitting on his first three-point attempt and draining two free throws in the first minute.
The Buckeyes took their first lead of the game thanks to a step-back bucket from distance by Parrish, one of his five second-half threes, making the score 45-43 with 14:07 remaining. That concluded a 20-2 Ohio State scoring run.
After the game was tied twice, Loyer drained three straight shots, the last of which gave the Boilermakers a 54-53 lead with 8:42 to go. The lead was extended to six at 59-53 when Gicarri Harris drilled a three-pointer with 7:10 left.
However, it was all Buckeyes after that.
Ohio State’s 15-0 run over the next four and a half minutes put them in the lead at 68-59 with only 2:42 left on the clock. From there, Purdue made it close, cutting the lead to one with 1:02 seconds to go, but the Buckeyes hit clutch free throws down the stretch to hold on to their upset victory.
In addition to the termination of Purdue’s winning streak and Ohio State’s losing streak, other important stretches came to an end.
Tuesday marked the first home loss for the Boilermakers in 26 games; their last loss at Mackey Arena happened almost two years ago on February 25, 2023, a 79-73 defeat at the hands of Indiana.
Also, this was the first time Ohio State claimed a road victory in the series since February 7, 2018, when the Buckeyes clipped the Boilers 64-63.
Purdue has to wait until Friday night to get the foul taste of defeat out of their mouths. They welcome Michigan to their home court for an 8 pm ET tip.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
