It was a tumultuous week for the Ohio State basketball program. With the dismissal of head coach Chris Holtmann on Wednesday morning, the question of how this team would respond was answered emphatically as the Buckeyes, led by interim head coach Jake Diebler, turned away visiting 2nd ranked Purdue before a near sellout crowd, 73-69.  The biggest win of the year improved the Buckeyes to 15-11, 5-10, while the Boilermakers had their 9 game winning streak ended, slipped to 23-3, 12-3. The Buckeyes turned a deficit as large as 8 in the first half into a 5 point lead at the break with a 14-2 run to get a lead they would not relinquish, building a lead as large as 12 and held off a late Purdue rally, to get a massive win not only for the program but for everyone in the locker room who have had a incredibly emotional last few days. The Buckeyes forced 14 Boilermaker turnovers and turned them into 14 points, while shooting 48%, including 7 of 21 from long range, while holding Purdue to just 43% and 3 of 9 from deep. Bruce Thornton led Ohio State with a game high tying 22 and Jamison Battle had all 19 of his points in the second half, including several big buckets while Purdue was making a charge. Zed Key came off the bench to score 9, but his defense on Zach Edey, included 5 steals that were instrumental in the Buckeyes pulling the upset as Ohio State’s bench outscored Purdue 26-4.  Zach Edey led Purdue with 22, while Lance Jones chipped in 13 and Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith each added 12. 

The Boilers raced out to an 8-0 lead thanks to a pair of three point plays, one of the traditional variety and one old-fashioned three point play, before Bruce Thornton went off an Evan Mahaffey ball screen and knocked down a jumper from the right elbow as he was hit on the arm. He knocked down the free throw to complete an old fashioned three point play of his own. After a Purdue bucket, Thornton hit a triple from the top to trim the deficit to 4. Purdue hit a jump hook mid-paint, but on the other end, Thornton grabbed an offensive rebound of his own miss, reset and hit a baseline jumper over reining National player of the year Zach Edey and after a foul on the defensive end, the under 16 media timeout was called with Purdue leading 12-8. A Purdue bucket out of the timeout extended the lead, but Zed Key drilled a three from the head of the key, cutting the deficit to just 3. An Edey tip extended the Boiler lead and after Devin Royal split a pair of free throws Ohio State was within 4 at the under 12 media timeout with Purdue leading 16-12. A Key lay in off a Dale Bonner pass in transition cut the deficit to 2 and the Buckeyes tied it when Key fed a cutting Roddy Gayle for a dunk electrifying the big crowd. An Edey flush reclaimed the lead for Purdue and four more Boiler points extended the lead before a Scotty Middleton got a little space and drilled a triple from the left wing to stop the quick 6-0 Purdue run and at the under 8, the Boilermakers held a 22-19 lead. A pair of Boiler free throws was answered by a Thortnon floater. Two more Boiler freebies and an offensive rebound score extended Purdue’s lead to 7, but Key scored on the left baseline to keep Ohio State close. A pair of Thornton free throws nudged Ohio State a bit closer and at the under 4, Purdue led Ohio State 28-25. Out of the timeout, Gayle got to the rim off the dribble drive cutting the lead to 1 and after a Purdue turnover, Royal found Austin Parks at the right block and Parks banked it in off the window, his first field goal attempt and score of the season,  to put the Buckeyes back in front. Purdue knocked down a pair of free throws to stop the 8-0 Buckeye run, but Middleton found Royal deep in the paint for two to put Ohio State back on top. After another Boiler turnover, a dribble handoff with Key giving the ball back to Thornton, who buried a jumper above the stripe extended the lead and Purdue called a timeout with 1:38 remaining in the half and Ohio State leading 33-30. After another defensive stop, Royal grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. The Buckeye D forced another one and done and when Gayle grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled, Jake Diebler called a timeout with 36 seconds remaining and the Buckeyes leading 35-30. The Buckeyes grabbed another offensive rebound and held for a final shot and were unable to get a shot to fall as Ohio State utilized a 14-2 run over the final 6:29, forcing Purdue to miss their final 8 shots, to take a 35-30 lead into the break. The Buckeyes shot it at a 47% clip, including 3 of 10 from distance, while holding Purdue to 41% and just 1 of 4 from deep. Rebounding numbers were even with Ohio State holding a 16-15 lead in that department, but Ohio State forced 6 turnovers, leading to a 10-3 advantage in points off of those turnovers, keying the Buckeyes to the halftime lead. Ohio State held a 17-4 advantage in bench points with Bruce Thornton leading Ohio State with a game high 14 and Trey Kauffman-Renn led the Boilermakers with 7 first half points. 

Purdue opened the second half scoring with Edey taking a pass deep in the post and scoring off the glass. Ohio State answered when Evan Mahaffey knocked down a 12 foot jumper from the left baseline. Purdue scored in the paint again, but a Jamison Battle jumper above the stripe fell, his first bucket of the game to keep Ohio State up 5. Edey scored mid-paint with a jump hook before Gayle and Key used a pick and roll with Gayle finding Key for a dunk. A 15’ Purdue jumper dropped, cutting into the lead but a Mahaffey offensive rebound and kick to Battle for three from the top put the Buckeyes up 6. The Buckeye D forced a Purdue turnover and in transition, Bonner found Battle trailing on the left wing and Battle drilled a three forcing Purdue to call a timeout with 14:45 left in the game and Ohio State now leading 47-38. Out of the timeout, Ohio State forced another turnover and in transition, Thornton found Battle, again on the left wing for three and the crowd was on their feet. Ohio State forced another Boiler turnover and Thornton was fouled advancing the ball quickly the other way, stopping the clock and sending the team’s to their benches for the under 16 media timeout and Ohio State on top 50-38 and on a 8-0 run. A Boiler triple stopped the run and after the Buckeye offense faltered, an Edey dunk cut the lead to 9. Bonner hit a floater just below the stripe to stop the mini Purdue run and on the other end, Key stripped Edey, knocking the ball to Bonner who streaked to the other end and layed it in and Ohio State took a timeout with 11:44 to play and the Buckeyes leading 54-43. A pair of Edey free throws cut into the lead and after a Buckeye miss, a Boiler runner off the glass cut the lead to 7. A tip dunk by Edey got Purdue closer, but a Thornton 12 footer from the right baseline stopped a 4 minute OSU scoring drought and at the under 8, Ohio State led 56-49. Out of the timeout, Edey went to the line and hit the pair to trim the lead to 5 after a Buckeye steal, Battle scored off the window in transition to extend the lead back to 7. Two more Boiler freebies trimmed the lead back to 5, but a Thornton jumper at the stripe answered. A questionable backcourt foul on the ensuing inbounds pass walked the ball to the other end for the one and one where the pair fell, cutting the lead back to 5 with under 5 minutes to play. A runner by Thornton over Edey dropped, but an offensive rebound and put back and foul put the Boilers on the line where the free throw dropped, completing the old-fashioned three point play cutting the Ohio State lead to 4. Bonner answered on the other end with a triple from the right wing and at the final media timeout and 3:33 remaining in the game, Ohio State led 65-58. A pair of Purdue free throws out of the timeout cut the Buckeye lead to 5 and after an Edey block of a Thornton runner, a foul on Thornton as Purdue was advancing the ball put the Boilers back on the stripe where both free throws dropped, cutting the lead to 3 with just over 3 to play.  An empty Buckeye possession gave the ball back to Purdue where Boilermaker coach Matt Painter took a timeout with 2:20 to play and Ohio State clinging to a 65-62 lead. Ohio State forced a miss, but Gayle missed a three and Purdue hit one to tie it with 1:32 to play. Battle broke the tie with a jumper just below the stripe. A Key steal of Edey created a break out and Thornton was fouled in the front court creating a side inbounds situation for Ohio State with 50 seconds left. Battle drew a foul attempting to score below the line and his freebies both dropped putting Ohio State up 4 with 34 seconds to play. Purdue called a timeout with 30 seconds left and Ohio State up 69-65. An Edey rebound and putback dunk cut the lead to 2 with 16.5 to play and Jake Diebler took a timeout. Thornton was fouled in the front court with 8 seconds to play and Bruce knocked down the pair. Purdue quickly went the other way and layed it in, but Battle was fouled with 1 second to play he drilled the pair to seal it and Ohio State completed the upset of the 2nd ranked Boilermakers. 

Somewhere Chris Holtmann is smiling. His boys, behind the leadership of his protegee Jake Diebler put forth an effort that anyone who has watched this team, knew they had in them. The youth of this basketball team grew up before our eyes and in front of a great crowd, the Buckeyes pulled off what many thought was impossible. Wearing the white uniforms with the script Buckeyes across the front, in homage to the early 80’s teams, and in front of the 1998-1999 ‘Final Four’ team, Ohio State’s defense, particularly in the paint on Zach Edey, along with great pace in transition,  created the opportunities they needed to get the upset. It was truly an incredible afternoon in the Schottenstein Center and the big crowd was rewarded with a team that played with purpose. They felt a sense of responsibility after Coach Holtmann was relieved of his duties and they seemed like they really wanted this one to prove their detractors wrong and they all came together to get it done. Coach Diebler was emphatic that the guys practiced really hard and deserved a performance like this, and to their credit it absolutely translated to the court where they were rewarded when the scoreboard read 0:00 and Ohio State was on top. They have 5 games left in the regular season, the Big Ten tournament and any potential postseason to make something out of what to this point has been a disappointing season. Most importantly, they proved to themselves what they are capable of when they play a full 40 minutes of engaged and motivated basketball.  We’ll see how it plays out, but today was a great start of the Jake Diebler era, however long that may be. 

Ohio State will hit the road for the first of two in a row away from home, heading to Minneapolis for a Thursday night game against the Gophers with a tip time scheduled for 8 PM, airing on BTN.

-Jason Harris