Around noon on Wednesday, CJ Walker smiled as he reminisced about his high school team that won the Indiana state championship at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, excited to again play in that building. He looked forward to having the two dozen family, friends, high school classmates and high school coaches who purchased tickets watch him play only 15 minutes away from his house for the Buckeyes.
Seventh-seeded Ohio State’s Big Ten tournament opener against 10th-seeded Purdue was supposed to be a special moment for him and his family.
“Just going back is just a good memory,” Walker said on Wednesday. “Just to go back and play in front of my friends and family again, and just playing in a gym where I won a championship, so I'm trying to win another one.”
Yet only hours later, Walker and the rest of the players on his team – and those around the conference – learned together of the Big Ten’s decision to limit attendees to players, coaches, event staff, essential team and conference staff, television partners, credentialed media and immediate family members from the participating teams, beginning on Thursday. When Ohio State tips off its game at 6:30 p.m., fans will not be in the building.
Walker, though, will still get a chance to play for a championship.
As of now, the Big Ten tournament is continuing as scheduled, with the Buckeyes set to begin play in the second round. If they beat Purdue, a team they topped by 16 points on Feb. 15, they’ll advance to take on Michigan State in the quarterfinals. To get through the Boilermakers, Ohio State will have to defeat a team needing a win to have a shot to dance in March.
“They're playing for their season, the NCAA tournament,” Kaleb Wesson said. “But we can't let them go in there and play with a bigger edge than us. We're also playing for a championship, and we can't let them go out there and think that the game means more for them than for us.”
Three Important Boilermakers
Trevion Williams (6-foot-9, 270 pounds)
In Ohio State’s 68-52 win against Purdue in February, Williams was ineffective with four points and eight rebounds, going 2-for-6 from the field. With a second chance going at Kaleb Wesson, he’ll try to have a rebound performance. The Boilermakers’ leading scorer this season averages 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Evan Boudreaux (6-foot-8, 220 pounds)
Boudreaux led the Boilermakers with 17 points the first time Ohio State and Purdue matched up, and he’ll attempt to have a similar impact on Thursday. The senior forward typically doesn’t score that many points, though. He averages 5.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.
Jahaad Proctor (6-foot-3, 205 pounds)
High Point graduate transfer Jahaad Proctor also played well in the first meeting, scoring 15 points. He’s cooled off recently, reaching double-digit points in only one of the past five games. But he averages nine points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
Three Important Buckeyes
E.J. Liddell
In the first matchup with Purdue this season, Kyle Young had a career-high 16 points and seven rebounds. Chris Holtmann said the junior forward is day-to-day, and if he sits out, Liddell would again find himself in the spotlight against one of the conference’s best rebounding teams.
Both on the glass and as an offensive threat, Liddell will arguably be the Buckeyes’ most important player on Thursday. Over the past few weeks, he’s taken major strides, and he’s now scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. He’s offering more offensive prowess at power forward for the Buckeyes.
“It's really something we've been trying to move toward with E.J. the last four or five weeks,” Holtmann said. “We've added stuff to our package within the last, really, five weeks for him, with him in mind, that we feel like fit him a little bit better. Early in the season, he was kind of scoring just because he's wired to score, but we've tried to put in some stuff as we've gotten into league play that benefits him more. And I think he's just really grown in his confidence.”
Kaleb Wesson
So, so many of Ohio State’s games the past two seasons have rested on Wesson’s shoulders, and that’ll again be the case on Thursday. He’s got a potentially difficult matchup with Williams in the middle, and he has to also keep the rest of the Boilermakers off the glass. While doing that, the Buckeyes need him to power the offense. Wesson’s as important as ever.
CJ Walker
Walker will presumably still have a few immediate family members in attendance when he takes the court on Thursday evening. They’ll get to watch as he runs the show for the Buckeyes. Walker has scored in double figures in each of the past six games after previously reaching double digits in only eight of the Buckeyes' first 25 games.
Three Numbers To Know
Pace of Play
Few teams across the country play as slow as Purdue, which ranks 333rd overall with an adjusted pace of 64.6. For reference, only one team – Wisconsin – plays at even more of a slog, per the metric. Ohio State certainly isn’t a fast-paced team either, ranking 11th in the Big Ten in adjusted pace, but the Boilermakers are even slower. Matt Painter’s team is also 310th in the nation with an average possession length of 18.8 seconds.
Effective Field-Goal Percentage
Offensively, Purdue’s a relatively inefficient shooting team. It ranks 261st in effective field-goal percentage (47.8), 284th in 2-point percentage (46.7) and 186th in 3-point percentage (33.0).
However, the Boilermakers rank 16th in the country with an offensive rebounding rate of 34.9 percent. Much of their offense comes via second-chance points. If Kyle Young doesn’t play, the Buckeyes absolutely need someone else to step up on the glass.
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency
Playing at a slow pace without inconsistent shooting, Purdue has often had to rely heavily on a defense that ranks 11th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (90.8). Painter’s group has successfully become one of the best defenses in the Big Ten and beyond.
Other Notes
- Alonzo Gaffney remains out for the Big Ten tournament, Holtmann said.
- DJ Carton remains on a leave of absence to improve his mental health situation.
- Ohio State had the nation’s best overall adjusted efficiency rating at home. Holtmann on what made the team so good in Columbus: “I think young teams play better at home. I just think they do. They feel more comfortable at home. And I do think that benefited us. And listen, it's a good question because we shot it so much better at home. But I think young teams just feel in a different level of confidence. I think obviously that's got to translate to some better play in the road here this year and moving forward. And I thought we had fantastic energy, particularly in the last month and a half, two months of the season with our home crowd. I thought we had fantastic energy.”
How It Plays Out
It’s hard to know exactly how a spectator-free environment will affect Thursday’s game. But if anything, it won’t make it a semi-home-court advantage for the Boilermakers.
The other unknown? Young’s status. If he doesn’t play, and that seems like the most likely outcome, Purdue’s offensive-rebounding prowess could legitimately swing the game. It’d be up to Liddell and Wesson, among others, to ensure that doesn’t happen. With Ohio State’s offense playing better recently, even though Purdue has a stout defense, we’re picking a victory for the Buckeyes.
Prediction: Ohio State 67, Purdue 63
