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Purdue at Ohio State: Time, TV, Preview, & More

Purdue looks to turn its Big Ten season around in Columbus.

By PUBoilingPoints
Trevor Ruszkowksi-USA TODAY Spor

After coming back from behind to beat Purdue in New Year's Eve day in Mackey Arena, Ohio State sputtered, going 2-5 in its next seven games. That included losses to Iowa, at Minnesota, at Nebraska, and at home against Penn State. The Buckeyes have appeared to bounce back in their last two games, however, having recorded wins at Wisconsin and at Iowa.

Purdue, meanwhile, ended its four game losing streak by beating Minnesota Wednesday in a three-overtime thriller in which the Boilers connected on just nine of 23 free throw attempts. The Boilers also had nine first-half turnovers before settling down against Minnesota's zone defense.

Projected Starters

Purdue Boilermakers (10-3, 0-0)

Ohio State Buckeyes (13-0, 0-0)

Terone Johnson - Sr.

Aaron Craft - Sr.

Ronnie Johnson - So.

LaQuinton Ross - Jr.

Sterling Carter - Sr.

Sam Thompson - Jr.

Basil Smotherman - Fr.

Lenzelle Smith Jr. - Sr.

A.J. Hammons - Fr.

Amir Williams - Jr.

Series with Purdue:

Ohio State leads 86-83 (only Big Ten team with winning record vs. Purdue)

Last Purdue win:

76-63 at Purdue on 2/20/2011

Last Ohio State win:

78-69 at Purdue on 12/30/2013

Odds:

Blog Representation:

Land-Grant Holyland

Location:

Columbus, OH

Best Postseason Result:

1960 NCAA Champion

2012-13 record:

29-8, 13-5 Big Ten, lost 70-66 to Wichita State in NCAA Elite Eight

Coach:

Thad Matta (370-109 alltime, 268-78 in 10th season at Ohio State)

RPI:

16

Time:

6 p.m.

TV:

BTN

Radio:

Purdue Radio Network

Streaming Audio:

TuneIn.com

FG 3PT FT Rebounds Misc
G M M A Pct M A Pct M A Pct Off Def Tot Ast TO Stl Blk PF PPG
LaQuinton Ross 23 27.1 4.7 11.0 42.9 1.6 3.8 41.4 3.0 4.3 70.0 1.7 3.9 5.5 0.9 1.5 0.7 0.5 1.4 14.1
Lenzelle Smith Jr. 23 28.1 3.8 8.7 43.8 1.6 4.4 36.6 2.5 3.3 77.3 1.1 3.9 5.0 1.4 1.2 0.7 0.0 1.7 11.8
Aaron Craft 23 34.7 3.0 6.3 47.9 0.6 1.5 38.2 2.9 3.9 74.2 0.2 3.2 3.4 4.9 2.3 2.5 0.0 2.4 9.4
Amir Williams 23 24.1 3.4 5.4 62.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.4 3.5 67.9 2.3 4.0 6.2 0.3 1.5 0.4 1.7 2.6 9.2
Shannon Scott 23 27.8 2.8 6.5 43.3 0.7 2.7 27.4 1.3 1.9 70.5 0.8 2.9 3.7 3.6 2.1 2.0 0.1 2.3 7.7
Sam Thompson 23 23.4 2.6 6.0 43.8 0.6 1.9 32.6 1.3 2.0 67.4 0.7 2.3 2.9 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.7 1.5 7.2
Marc Loving 23 12.6 1.6 4.0 38.7 0.6 2.0 27.7 2.0 2.5 78.9 0.7 1.4 2.1 0.3 0.7 0.3 0.3 1.6 5.7
Amedeo Della Valle 22 12.8 1.7 4.3 38.9 1.0 2.7 36.7 0.7 1.1 62.5 0.7 1.2 1.9 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.9 5.0
Trey McDonald 23 11.6 0.8 1.5 55.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 1.1 30.8 0.8 0.8 1.7 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.6 2.0 2.0
Jake Lorbach 6 2.0 0.5 1.2 42.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 1.0

Despite Purdue seemingly being overmatched against the Buckeyes, Purdue was close to beating the Buckeyes already once this season. Ohio State needed a 14-5 run to take the lead and push that lead to nine points - a run that included two downright criminal calls (or non-calls) against Purdue - to grab this win. A.J. Hammons had an 18 point, 16 rebound game that left Purdue fans hopeful that Purdue would be a force in Big Ten play (ah, those were the days).

With that said, Ohio State struggled for most of that game to knock down shots, something that likely won't happen on their home court. Further, Purdue's guards really struggled to contain Aaron Craft; his driving and kicking gave me nightmares for a week. It seemed as if the senior guard was running circles around the Purdue defenders, driving and dishing as he pleased. Containing Craft will be just one of the keys for Purdue.

Another major key is keeping Hammons out of foul trouble (it's a lot harder for Craft to be effective driving and dishing if the layup threat is minimized by Hammons's shotblocking abilities), and getting the big man going on the offensive end. Purdue's guards, specifically Ronnie Johnson, showed some dazzling unselfish play at times Wednesday night. They're going to need that and more to beat Ohio State at home, a place that has given Matt Painter more nightmares than anywhere else in his time at Purdue.

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