Game Wrap: Purdue 79, Ohio State 67

Ohio State was looking to turn around a disastrous 4-game losing streak after a promising start to the season, and it looked like they were on their way, when they stretched a cold Purdue start into a 15-6 lead, but an un-hostile crowd never got to sink their gums into the Purdue Boilermakers who responded with a 24-3 run that gave the Boilers a lead they never relinquished on their way to a 79-67 victory.

The game wasn’t without drama, as Ohio St. pushed the Boilermakers late behind a strong three-point shooting performance as a team and a dominating performance by Andre Wesson, who ended the game scoring 22 points on 9 of 10 shooting.

But the night goes to Carsen Edwards, fourth leading scorer in the nation, and newest member of the 1,500 points club for Purdue basketball after scoring a game-high 27 points who had one of his most well-rounded games of the year. He made four threes, but did most of his damage at the line, getting to the stripe 13 times and making 11 of them. He also grabbed four boards, assisted on 4 field goals, and came away with 5 steals.

But road wins in the B10 don’t just happen by stars shining. Purdue senior Grady Eifert hustle and ball movement helped secure Purdue’s win, particularly in the second half when the Boilers were lulling on offense. He stuffed the stat sheet, grabbing 6 boards to go along with 4 assists. He was even more vital scoring the ball late, scoring 9 points, including two dagger three’s late in the second half. He was 3 of 4 on the night from three.

Ryan Cline continues to be a steadying presence for a Purdue offense that struggled with turnovers. In a game where the bench didn’t go as deep as normal, Cline played 34 minutes and came away with 13 points. He turned the ball over just once and shot 3 of 5 from three.

Trevion Williams continues to be points off the bench for Coach Painter. He scored 10 in just 14 minutes of action while grabbing 3 offensive rebounds and making 2 of his 3 free throw attempts.

Purdue now has three days off to prepare for a re-match against top-5 Michigan St., who outplayed and out-powered Purdue in East Lansing January 8th on their way to an 18-point victory.

Purdue will go into that match-up on a four-game winning streak and playing their best ball of the year. That game will be Sunday, January 27th at 1:00 pm.