Rob Oller: Ohio State nearly rewrites its way into upset of Purdue
Hello, copy desk? You know that paragraph where I make fun of Ohio State for resembling a bad comb-over on (Gene) Keady Court? Well, scrap that.
And the snarky bit about “If No. 6 Purdue is considered only 10 spots better than No. 16 Ohio State then obviously I’m only 10 spots behind Paul Rudd as People’s 2022 Sexiest Man Alive.” (Yeah, I don’t get it, either). Edit that out, too, because OSU forced me into one whale of a rewrite.
Say this for the Buckeyes, they know how to make a sports writer pivot and earn his pay. Good on them.
Where to begin when describing what happened Sunday in West Lafayette? How about at the end? Purdue escaped with an 81-78 win when sophomore Jaden Ivey buried a long 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining. And make no mistake this was an escape, because, well, let’s jump to the beginning.
From the opening tip, E.J. Liddell looked like a lost puppy and his Ohio State teammates ran around Mackey Arena like stray cats, getting into places they ought not have gone. Purdue’s size intimidated the Buckeyes into relying on outside shots that did not fall.
Liddell was coming off a 23-point, 15-rebound performance against Minnesota, but against the Boilermakers he had only 6 points and one rebound at halftime, and went scoreless from 9:38 of the first half to 9:05 of the second. Part of the issue was Ohio State failing to get the ball into his hands, but Liddell also played without much force, settling for low-trajectory bombs instead of finding a groove with his 15-foot fadeaway jumper.
At one point, six minutes into the second half, the Boilermakers led by 20 points and looked to be on their way to 30.
It was that bad. Ohio State not only struggled to make 3-pointers — 3 of 17 at one point — but defensively against Purdue 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey the Buckeyes resembled frustrated preschoolers jumping to snag candy from his raised arm.
So I began writing, feeling safe this one was over long before it actually was. Shame on me, because by now it should be obvious that Ohio State seldom settles into an easy chair for an entire 40 minutes. Under coach Chris Holtmann, these Buckeyes play to the buzzer. They don’t play hard all the time — Holtmann was disappointed with the effort over the first five minutes of the second half — but they almost always buckle down to avoid getting blown out.
“I’d have been really disappointed if we didn’t fight through the final buzzer,” Holtmann said. “I’d have been devastated, because that can’t be who we ever are.”
This was no moral victory. Ohio State (13-5, 6-3) held a half-game lead over Purdue (18-3, 7-3) for the third spot in the Big Ten before Ivey buried his game-winner. But it also was not a crushing loss when considering the expected outcome. Going in, the general feeling was Ohio State would do well to keep the game close; any loss in single digits felt acceptable.
Mackey is a tough venue for visitors, and Purdue has impressive roster versatility with bigs who can shoot as well as defend and a dynamic offense that features Ivey at one end and Edey at the other.
“He’s a load,” Holtmann said of Edey. “And the way they shoot it at all four spots makes it difficult.”
Especially when the Buckeyes struggle to shoot it at every spot. Ohio State is at its best when making at least 35% of its 3-point attempts (OSU shot 31% against Purdue) and when Liddell plays like the national player of the year candidate he is. That did not happen against Purdue until the final three minutes. Even then it was almost enough. Liddell’s 3-pointer with 25.3 seconds left tied things at 78 and gave him 20 points for the game.
“We expect a lot of E.J. and Kyle (Young), and they can be even better,” Holtmann said. “And for us to win on the road they need to be better. … I wanted (Liddell) to be even more aggressive during the guts of the game.”
Holtmann described the close-but-no-cigar comeback as a “tough one for us, but I’m proud of our guys. There was resiliency for sure.”
Compare that perseverance to what transpired on the same floor in March, when the No. 2 seed Buckeyes had no business losing to No. 15 Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This time, through the first 25 minutes they had no business being in the game against Purdue. But somehow they flipped the script. And nearly rewrote the entire story.
@rollerCD
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State basketball nearly pulls off stunner against Purdue
