Bang.
Jaden Ivey, a freshman Purdue guard, stepped back behind the 3-point line and let fly a 3-pointer that went through the net with five seconds remaining to break what had been a 64-64 tie. Duane Washington Jr. a free throw with two seconds left, but Ohio State couldn't recover from Ivey's back-breaking shot.
The Buckeyes fell, 67-65, to the Boilermakers on Tuesday night in Columbus to end what was a three-game win streak. They dropped to 11-4 on the season and 5-4 within the Big Ten.
Boilermaker guard Sasha Stefanovic tied the game up at 64 points apiece with 54 seconds remaining, evening up a game in the final minute after the Buckeyes led for nearly the entirety of regulation. Justin Ahrens had a 3-pointer blocked with 27 seconds to go, giving Purdue the ball back with a shot to win it. Ivey subsequently won the game for his team.
Duane Washington Jr. led Ohio State with 21 points, making 7-of-14 shots from the field and hitting a career-high six triples. Ahrens, who hit a trio of 3s and three free throws, added 12 points. E.J. Liddell managed 11 points.
So much of the Buckeyes' offense relied upon the outside shot, with Chris Holtmann's team going 14-for-35 from outside the arc. His players shot more than half of their shots from 3-point range and made 37.7 percent of their shots from the field.
Purdue got a team-high 16 points from Trevion Williams.
For the first half of Tuesday night's Big Ten rematch, Ohio State maintained control of the scoreboard with a remarkable 3-point flurry for a team where that felt like a concern not too long ago.
The Buckeyes attempted 29 shots in the first half, and 22 of them were from behind the arc. Ohio State made nine of those 3-pointers – a 40-percent clip, which is above their season-long team average – yet mad only two 2-point attempts. Washington led the way from outside, coming one make away from his single-game high by drilling four 3s in the first 20 minutes along. Justin Ahrens and Justice Sueing each paid a pair from deep in the first half, and E.J. Liddell accounted for the ninth.
The sharp-shooting aided Ohio State, which pulled ahead by 11 points twice the went into halftime with a six-point edge after making only one shot from the field in the last five minutes of the first half.
Next up: The Buckeyes make their way to Madison, Wisconsin, for a Saturday showdown with the No. 10 Badgers. The only regular season matchup between these two teams tips off at 4 p.m. on CBS.
Other Notes
- Chris Holtmann stuck with the starting five he utilized the prior two games: Duane Washington Jr., Justin Ahrens, Justice Sueing, E.J. Liddell and Kyle Young.
- CJ Walker (torn ligaments in right hand), Jimmy Sotos (shoulder) and Ibrahima Diallo (sprained MCL) were all inactive. Their returns are all to be determined.
- This was the final regular season matchup between these two teams. Purdue had won the previous game, 67-60, on Dec. 16 to hand the Buckeyes their first loss of the year.
