Ohio State freshman guard John Mobley Jr. drives toward the basket during the game against Purdue Tuesday. The Buckeyes defeated the No. 11 Boilermakers 73-70. Credit: Ohio State Athletics
After falling short in their last three games by a combined five points, the Buckeyes went on the road to West Lafayette, Indiana, looking to get back on track.
Unsurprisingly, Ohio State found itself in another down-to-the-wire battle. But this time, they flipped the script.
The Buckeyes, led by guard Micah Parrish, rallied together late and stunned No. 11 Purdue in a thrilling 73-70 victory to give themselves a much-needed statement win.
Parrish finished the contest with a career-high 22 points, including 17 in the second half.
But it didn’t start pretty for Ohio State. In fact, just about everything went wrong in the first 20 minutes.
The Boilermakers’ duo of Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn carved up the Buckeye defense, with Smith tallying four assists on Purdue’s first six baskets—three to Kaufman-Renn.
The first half saw the Buckeyes have as many turnovers as made field goals, lose two players due to injury and trailed in every statistical measure — it was a miracle the Buckeyes got into the half only down 13.
A dunk by forward Devin Royal ended a nearly four-minute field goal drought, but Ohio State went cold again, allowing an 8-0 Purdue run that stretched the lead to 25-11.
Things got worse when guard John Mobley Jr. took a hit to the face from forward Caleb Furst at 7:45, leaving him in the locker room for the rest of the half. Minutes later, forward Colin White suffered an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game.
Royal was Ohio State’s lone offensive spark, leading the team with 11 points. He was the only Buckeye to score during a nine-minute stretch.
On the other hand, Bruce Thornton was quiet.
The All-Big-Ten guard was held to no points until he broke through with time expiring in the first half as he drilled a 3-pointer with a 41-28 score at the break.
That shot ignited an offensive explosion for the Buckeyes in the second half.
Ohio State came out of the half scoring, going on a 7-0 run in the first minute and 45 seconds of play.
After Purdue responded to keep its lead at eight, Ohio State answered with another run — this one 10 consecutive points, capped by back-to-back threes from guard Micah Parrish, giving the Buckeyes their first lead of the game at 14:10.
Back from injury, Mobley gave Ohio State a 53-50 lead with a masterful high-off-the-glass finish, but Purdue responded with a 9-0 run to reclaim control. Undeterred, the Buckeyes launched a massive 15-0 run, pushing ahead 68-59 with 2:42 remaining.
True to the game’s back-and-forth nature, Purdue clawed back, with Kaufman-Renn scoring seven straight to cut the deficit to one with a minute left. But with 29 seconds to play, Mobley, who has delivered in big moments all season, knocked down a clutch, long two-pointer to put Ohio State up 70-67.
Despite late pressure, the Buckeyes held on, sinking crucial free throws to secure their first win at Mackey Arena since Feb. 7, 2018, and snapping the Boilermakers 26-game home winning streak.
Ohio State will return home to play Iowa at 8 p.m. Monday. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
