Freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge (22) goes up for a layup during No. 8 Ohio State’s game against Purdue on Sunday in the Schottenstein Center. The Buckeyes won 98-46. Credit: Emma MacMath | Lantern Photographer
Ohio State scored the first basket of the game.
Then they scored again. And then again.
Soon enough, it was a 13-0 lead that the Buckeyes rode throughout.
No. 8 Ohio State cruised to a 98-46 Senior Day win over the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday at the Schottenstein Center. The 52-point margin of victory was the largest in conference play at home in program history.
Five Ohio State players scored double-digit points, led by guard Chance Gray with a game-high 21. Forward Ajae Petty also collected her fifth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points while grabbing 14 rebounds.
“I think we’re at our best when we spread the scoring around,” McGuff said. “We make the extra pass, we get balance, and shots around the basket, three-point shots, and that’s when our shooting percentage and our assists are usually where they need to be.”
The Buckeyes scored a staggering 55 points in the first half, putting the game out of reach early.
After giving up two double-digit leads in its last two games, head coach Kevin McGuff said his team nearly played a full 40 minutes of the Buckeyes’ best basketball.
“We’ve shown in past games where we’ve gotten big leads, a lot of times, we quit doing the things that allowed us to get the lead,” McGuff said. “I thought today we got closer to 40 minutes of playing consistent basketball that we’re capable of.”
Ohio State buried its first four shots — including 3-pointers from guards Gray and Jaloni Cambridge — to spark the 13-0 run to start.
Purdue responded with a 5-0 run to cut the lead down to eight. However, a 10-2 run for Ohio State late in the quarter stifled the Boilermaker’s momentum as the Buckeyes took a 24-8 lead into the second.
The Ohio State barrage continued as the Buckeyes put up 31 points to extend their lead to 55-26 at the half. Cambridge scored 12 of her 20 points in the second quarter.
And again, Ohio State came out running in the third quarter, going on a 15-3 run that was capped by a layup from Petty over the first three minutes of the frame. The Buckeyes led Purdue 77-35 after three.
Five straight points from Cambridge jumpstarted a 12-0 Ohio State run to start the fourth and helped secure a 98-46 senior day win for the Buckeyes.
Graduate guard Madison Greene — one of the two players honored pregame — said the day was all she could ask for.
“Just the whole day, the whole experience was really nice,” Greene said. “Seeing all the fans come and having my family here and celebrating with [Thierry].”
The Buckeyes (23-4, 12-4 Big Ten) return to the floor Wednesday for a battle with the Michigan State Spartans (20-7, 10-6 Big Ten) at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on Big Ten+.
