Ohio State junior forward Kaleb Wesson (34) attempts a shot in the second half against Maryland Feb. 23. Ohio State won 79-72. Credit: Cori Wade | Assistant Photo Editor
Six weeks ago, Ohio State was slated as the No. 13 team out of 14 in the Big Ten by conference record, unranked and losers of six of its past seven games.
Thursday, No. 19 Ohio State (21-10, 11-9 Big Ten) enters the Big Ten tournament as the No. 7 seed against Purdue (16-15, 9-11), a team the Buckeyes beat 68-52 during their 9-of-12 winning stretch to close the season.
“We talked about this a month or so ago, when we played them last — you look at their numbers and they’ve had some really, really impressive wins,” Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said. “Really well coached, put together.”
Purdue has beaten five ranked opponents, including two wins by at least 25 points against then-No. 5 Virginia and then-No. 8 Michigan State.
Ohio State assembled one of its best defensive performances of its Big Ten slate, statistically, when it played the Boilermakers Feb. 15.
The Buckeyes allowed their conference-play lows of 52 points and their second-lowest field goal percentage and 3-point percentage, at 35 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Only three Purdue players scored more than four points in the game. The team’s one main weapon in the contest — the 17-point performance of senior forward Evan Boudreaux — was quelled by foul trouble. Boudreaux missed significant second-half time after picking up his fourth foul and fouled out entirely with just under two minutes to play.
Purdue is the No. 4 defensive rebounding team in the Big Ten.
“Terrific rebounding team, they really got us on the glass here,” Holtmann said. “They’re physical. They’re very physical. Great at turning you over, No. 1 in the league in turnover percentage.”
Typically Purdue’s offense is led by sophomore forward Trevion Williams, first on the squad in scoring and rebounding with 11.5 points and 7.6 boards per game, respectively.
Williams finished with just four points against Ohio State in the previous meeting, but there are several players capable of taking over production if called upon — three different players have led the Boilermakers in scoring in their past three games.
Most recently, sophomore guard Sasha Stefanovich put up 22 points in a 71-68 overtime loss to Rutgers.
On the year, Purdue is No. 7 in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage, No. 12 in scoring and No. 11 in field goal percentage.
“Purdue’s a really good team, they shoot the ball really well,” redshirt junior guard CJ Walker said. “They have a lot of good offensive actions to get players open, get open shots. This is gonna be a high attention to detail type of game. We’ve gotta make shooters miss.”
In the broader scheme of the tournament, Ohio State hasn’t won the Big Ten tournament since 2013.
If the Buckeyes get past Purdue in the first round, they’ll meet No. 9 Michigan State, the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
The Spartans beat the Buckeyes 80-69 Sunday to close the regular season for both schools.
Winning that game would place Ohio State in the semifinals of the tournament. Getting there is going to be a battle, junior forward Kaleb Wesson said.
“It’s gonna take a lot of attention to detail, and staying focused,” Wesson said. “I feel like at times in the tournament we focus on one thing, that’s beating that team. And that’s what we have to do this year.”
Ohio State and Purdue tip off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Indianapolis.
