John Mobley’s shooting hand (above) healed enough for him to hit 5 of 11 from 3-point range and score 21 points in Sunday’s win over Purdue. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
With a healthy enough five starters, Ohio State built a lead, held on and added an important line to their NCAA Tournament resume with a win over #8-ranked Purdue.
Columbus, OH – The basketball Buckeyes woke up Sunday morning and took their petitions to the altar.
“Please, let Christoph Tilly and Amare Bynum be well enough to play today in the latest most-important game of the season.”
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“Please, let two taped-together fingers on John Mobley Jr.’s shooting hand not stop him from making 3-pointers.”
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Head coach Jake Diebler confirmed: “A lot of prayers went up for some healing.”
And, of course, “Please, help us beat Purdue.”
Not a single prayer bounced back off the ceiling of the vast Schottenstein Center. The Buckeyes got every “yes” they needed and the signature win their NCAA Tournament supplications can’t live without in an 82-74 victory over No. 8 Purdue.
And when it was over, after Purdue’s walk-of-shame off the floor, the students joined the Buckeyes in a “Hallelujah” celebration that ended, respectfully as always, with a chorus of “Carmen Ohio.”
“That was a great experience,” captain Bruce Thornton said in his usual understated voice. “Very thankful, very blessed to have a crowd that cares so much about Ohio State basketball.”
What a Big Ten screen feels like…Bruce Thornton fights past the chaos for two of his 20 points in the win over Purdue.
Sitting next to Thornton was Mobley Jr., the other half of the guard combination that combined for 41 points and eight 3-pointers. His take on the court storming made Thornton crack a smile.
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“This is Mr. Nonchalant over here,” Mobley Jr. said as he looked and grinned at his teammate. “My first-ever court storm. I’m used to watching it on TV all the time. I mean, it was a crazy experience.”
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Diebler enjoyed seeing his players celebrated after a hard-fought victory they needed in their March Madness pursuit.
“As long as everybody’s safe and get the other team off the court, and they want to have some fun and celebrate with us, I’m all for that,” Diebler said.
The Buckeyes (18-11, 10-8) want to be one of those teams on CBS seen celebrating their tournament inclusion come Selection Sunday. Beating Purdue (22-7, 12-6) for a second Quad 1 win (Northwestern is again, at least for now, the other Quad 1) strengthens the resume and fills in the glaring blank of signature win. To know exactly what else the Buckeyes must accomplish, it is impossible to nail down as other teams win and lose big games.
Suffice it to say, a win at Penn State on Wednesday and a season finale win at home Saturday against Indiana would move their resume up the stack. Then it’s see what becomes of the Big Ten Tournament and how much it matters. History would be on Ohio State’s side as a 12-win Big Ten team. Since the league expanded to a 20-game schedule, no team with 12 wins has been left out.
All this after Wednesday night’s downer loss at Iowa, a loss that surely made some fans give up on this team. But the Buckeyes didn’t give up.
Freshman Amare Bynum sights the rim for two of his 14 points in Sunday’s win.
“God,” was Thornton’s short answer to how his team was able to rebound from one of its worst performances. “Did a lot of praying after the game against Iowa.”
And the Buckeyes searched their souls for the reasons why the trip to Iowa was so disappointing.
“We came together being honest with each other, saying that was not us,” Thornton said. “But how we played today – we just stood together.”
On Sunday, the Buckeyes were more themselves than Purdue was itself. And they needed to be to break their first two-game losing streak of the season and hand the Boilermakers their third loss in four games.
“Ohio State played harder than us,” said veteran Purdue coach Matt Painter, who is 0-3 vs. Diebler. “There’s just no way anybody walked out of there and said, ‘Hey, Ohio State was better, but man, Purdue played hard.’ Even some wrestler that doesn’t know basketball, he’s not saying it.”
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The Buckeyes did it on both ends, running down more loose balls, executing more consistently and playing with more consistent desire in every phase. And while the health of all five starters had great positive impact on Ohio State’s offensive efficiency, the recent run of defense the Buckeyes have played continued and impacted Purdue’s typically elite offense.
Christoph Tilly pays the price for attacking the rim in the first half of Sunday’s game at Value City Arena.
The Boilermakers looked like themselves early, knocking down 3-pointers at an 8-for-14 clip in the first half. But as the first half progressed, the Buckeyes began to limit open shots, ones the Boilers didn’t miss early.
By the end, Ohio State rendered Purdue’s elite offense rather average. The Boilers average 82.6 points per game and entered No. 2 in the nation in offensive efficiency. They shoot 38.4% from three. But an 0-for-9 start to the second half led to a 37.9% afternoon from three. Overall, the Boilers shoot 50.1%, but on Sunday they shot 44.4%.
The defense carried over to rebounding. Purdue is one of the best rebounding teams in the nation with an average positive margin of 7.1. Ohio State’s is 1.5. The Buckeyes owned the boards 36-29 and turned 10 offensive rebounds (six by Devin Royal) into a 19-14 advantage in second-chance points.
“When you’re preparing for Purdue, and all the stuff they do offensively, it’s easy to get caught up in the Xs and Os,” Diebler said. “But the bottom line is that if you don’t play really tough and have tremendous fight, you don’t have a chance. We game planned, but we had to have the bigger fight.”
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The fight carried over to the offense, which had to adjust to the Iowa’s debilitating strategy of double-teaming Thornton on ball screens. Purdue tried it, but the Buckeyes were ready for it and found ways around it.
Mobley Jr. missed his first three 3-point attempts, but that didn’t kill the fight. Thornton had his back and made one. Throughout, they played off each other well, taking turns setting things up and being the shooter.
Center Ivan Njegovan’s dunk raised the roof on the full house that witnessed the win over Purdue.
Mobley Jr. scored 21 points, making 5 of 11 3-pointers. He’s spent extra time shooting to learn the mechanics of shooting with tape on his fingers. Thornton scored 20 with three tough layups, three 3-pointers and 5-of-7 free throws. He’s 30 points from surpassing Dennis Hopson as the highest-scoring Buckeye.
Their backcourt mojo shook Purdue the most in the second half when the Boilers were trying and failing to impose their will. During the Buckeyes’ 14-5 run to start the second half that pushed their lead to 14 for a second time at 50-36, Thornton assisted Mobley Jr. for a 3-pointer. And the lead, at that moment, hit double digits for the first time, 45-34.
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Purdue responded and cut the Ohio State lead to 52-45. But unlike many games this season when drastic swings have cost the Buckeyes, they responded. Mobley Jr. assisted Thornton for consecutive threes to restore an 11-point lead.
Every time Purdue made a 6-0 run, or something similar, the Buckeyes responded with points and stops to maintain a double-digit lead. They expanded it to as much as 16 with 7:41 left.
“We’ve been in that situation a lot of times this year,” Mobley Jr. said. “Don’t get comfortable. I know it’s three minutes left and we up 12, but just keeping that foot on the gas, making the right play.”
Purdue, predictably, had one run left and sliced the deficit to six with 2:43 left. But Taison Chatman, Amare Bynum and Royal stepped on the gas to build the lead back to 11 a minute later.
Chatman caught a pass inside for an apparent layup. But with a defender close he gave up the ball to Bynum in the corner. And Bynum, who bounced back with 14 points after two off games, swished a 3-pointer.
“It just shows the belief these guys have in each other for Taison to make that pass,” Diebler said. “It was an unselfish play.”
What it felt like on the other side….Purdue bench reacts to a lost day in Columbus.
Then Royal (12 points, 8-of-9 free throws, nine rebounds) came seemingly out of a courtside seat to follow in a missed shot with a crowd-pleasing dunk, making his team believe today really could be the day for the elusive upset they had been so close to many times before.
“Devin was a monster on the glass today,” Diebler said. “Didn’t even have his best game making shots, but he found a way to be impactful.
“That segment of the game is oftentimes the players’ time, and the players stepped up and made plays.”
The Buckeyes finished off Purdue with free throws, cementing a huge box score advantage. They made 25 of 32 while Purdue made only 7 of 10.
Now the Buckeyes turn their attention to Penn State (12-17). The Buckeyes handled the Nittany Lions 84-78 at home, but those same Lions beat Iowa on Saturday. The Buckeyes can’t leave behind what allowed them to win Sunday.
“They’re spending time in this building to try to be their best,” Diebler said. “And I think that’s a great recipe for playing your best. When we have this type of fight and execution, that combination is really important.”
And a little prayer.
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