The Ohio State Buckeyes sit in a team meeting during a time out during the Ohio State-Purdue game on Jan. 19. Ohio State lost 67-65. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Purdue guard Jaden Ivey made his final four shots, however it was the last one that made the difference Tuesday.
No. 15 Ohio State (11-4, 5-4 Big Ten) was unable to get in a groove in the second half, falling to Purdue (11-5, 6-3 Big Ten) 67-65 off of Ivey’s late three-pointer.
“Unfortunately, they made a really, really tough shot. Big shot at the end, credit to two-three on their team,” Washington said Tuesday.
Despite controlling the perimeter, Ohio State could not match Purdue’s physicality down low.
Ohio State struggled with the Boilermakers’ physicality down low as Purdue dominated from inside the paint — outscoring the Buckeyes 36-8 in the painted area.
Junior guard Sasha Stefanovic led the way for the Boilermakers on the offensive end, finishing with 15 points on 5-of-9 from the field including the game-tying three-pointer with just under a minute to play.
On the game-tying shot, Holtmann said Stefanovic was freed up due to miscommunication on the switch off of a dribble handoff.
“It’s an action they run and we just had a miscommunication,” Holtmann said. “That’s ultimately my fault.”
Purdue junior forward Trevion Williams — who nearly produced a triple-double against the Buckeyes Dec. 16 — was limited by early foul trouble as he picked up 2 fouls in the first eight minutes of the game.
However, Williams was able to make an impact in the later stages of the game — scoring 11 of 16 points in the second half while adding seven rebounds.
Williams’ contributions on the glass helped Purdue hold a distinct advantage on the glass, as they out rebounded Ohio State 38-30.
Ohio State shot just 20 three-pointers in its Dec. 16 matchup with Purdue, however the Buckeyes surpassed that total in the game’s opening half as they took 22 first-half attempts.
The Ohio State offense hummed to the tune of its perimeter players as the Buckeyes dialed in from distance — shooting 14-of-35 from 3-point range.
However, Holtmann said the Buckeyes took too many shots from distance.
“I thought we did have some good looks, but it was a few too many for sure,” Holtmann said.
Leading Ohio State’s perimeter attack was junior guard Jr. who put up a game-high 21 points on 6-of-9 from three.
Outside of scoring, Washington also distributed the ball as he collected a team-high six assists.
Washington’s efficiency from deep was supported by junior forward Justin Ahrens and redshirt junior forward Justice Sueing.
Ahrens hit 3 of his 9 three point attempts enroute to 12 points, while Sueing scored 8 points on 2-of-4 from distance.
“I thought we could’ve taken a couple better ones, myself included. Other than that they were all really good shots for us,” Washington said. “We just got a lot of good, open three looks that we shoot everyday in practice and we’re confident in. We just gotta keep knocking them down.”
However, the Buckeyes struggled to produce inside the arc where they shot 6-of-18 — making five more three-pointers than two-pointers.
Although the Buckeyes were able to hold a 37-31 halftime lead, they did it without any offensive production from their bench.
Ohio State’s reserves were outscored 14-0 in the game’s opening half.
Purdue’s bench was able to hold the advantage throughout the night, finishing with a 28-6 advantage.
On the defensive end, Ohio State was able to force Purdue into mistakes, resulting in 8 first-half turnovers by the Boilermakers. However, that trend did not continue into the second half as Purdue finished the game with 10 turnovers.
While the Buckeyes were productive from three-point range on the offensive end, they also locked in from the perimeter on the defensive end.
The Boilermakers finished the game 5-of-20 from beyond the arc.
As the Buckeyes look to put this loss behind them, Washington said that the team just needs to figure out ways to fight for all 40 minutes.
“We’re in the middle of it now, we know what to expect, we know how hard it is and we know how tough it’s going to be,” Washington said. “There’s no more exceptions, we’ve gotta come out and fight every single night. We gotta be the team at the end who’s fighting harder.”
Ohio State returns to action Saturday against No. 10 Wisconsin at 4 p.m.
This story was updated Jan. 19 at 9:40 p.m. with quotes from Duane Washington Jr. and Chris Holtmann.
