The Ohio State men’s basketball team will look to stop one streak and keep another alive in its Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal matchup Friday night against Purdue.
The third-seeded Buckeyes are going for their third straight Big Ten Tournament Championship, something no team has done since the conference’s tournament began in 1998.
But the sixth-seeded Boilermakers are trying to make it three consecutive seasons that the No. 6 team has upset the No. 3 team in the quarterfinals. In both cases, those teams went on to face the Buckeyes (the No. 1 seed in 2010 and 2011) in the title game.
Led by senior forward Robbie Hummel, Purdue defeated No. 11 seed Nebraska, 79-61, Thursday night to advance to tonight’s quarterfinals. Boilermakers coach Matt Painter discussed the impending contest against the Buckeyes following the game.
“(OSU is) just a winning program, and for us, we’re going to have to limit them in some area,” he said. “So if you have any advice on how to do that, I’m up for suggestions. But no, we’ve got a lot of respect for them and they’re dangerous. They’re a dangerous team.”
Earlier this season, the OSU escaped with an 87-84 victory Feb. 7 in Columbus. It was the only meeting between the Buckeyes and Boilermakers.
OSU likely will need to focus on slowing down Purdue’s outside shooting tonight. The Boilermakers ranked third in the Big Ten in three-point percentage this season and tied a conference tournament with 13 threes Thursday night against the Cornhuskers.
Tip between the Boilermakers and Buckeyes is set for 9 p.m. The game will begin 30 minutes after the completion of No. 2 Michigan versus No. 10 Minnesota, which tips off at 6:30 p.m.
