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An undefeated season at home, joining the 1968-69 and 2010-11 season as the only unbeaten seasons at home in school history.
Grady Eifert and Ryan Cline closing their careers at 63-4 in Mackey Arena, the most home wins ever by a Purdue senior class.
A chance at a 24th Big Ten championship.
Sole possessions of first place in the Big Ten if Indiana helps us.
Yes, tomorrow is a big day. It is the biggest home game probably since last year when the Buckeyes came to town and stole a late victory. They are the only team aside from Purdue to win in West Lafayette in over two years. Ohio State’s 64-63 win last season was the most frustrating type of loss. Purdue led from the 6:53 mark of the first half until there were 1:16 left. The Boilers led by 14 with 10 minutes left. It was an absolutely brutal loss that ended up costing us the Big Ten title, all because we could not corral one rebound. In the last 38 games at Mackey Arena it is our lone defeat, and had it not been a loss we would have the longest home winning streak in the country.
On top of everything that Purdue has to play for this season, there is a measure of payback in this game. We are lucky to find ourselves in a position where beating the Buckeyes can greatly help us win the Big Ten. It is a second chance that last year’s team did not get.
From: Columbus, OH
Date: Saturday, March 2, 2019
Tip Time: 2 p.m. ET
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana
Arena: Mackey Arena (14,804)
Television: ESPN
Online: WatchESPN
Radio: Purdue Radio Network
SiriusXM Satellite: XM (Ch. 381); Internet (Ch. 968)
Live Stats: bit.ly/PurdueLiveStats
Odds: bestSportsbooks.co
KenPom: 33
NET: 40
2017-18 Record: 25-9, 15-3 Big Ten (lost to Gonzaga 90-84 in NCAA Second Round
2018-19 Record: 18-10, 8-9 Big Ten
Opponent Blog: Land-Grant Holyland
Series with Purdue: Ohio State leads 90-87
Last Ohio State Win: 64-63 at Purdue on 2/7/2018
Last Purdue Win: 79-67 at Ohio State on 1/23/2019
NCAA Tournament History: 32 Appearances, last in 2018. 1960 National Champions
Back in January Purdue trailed by 9 early, pulled ahead with about five minutes left in the second half, and never trailed again on its way to a comfortable 12-point road victory. The Buckeyes are probably second the best team we have beaten on the road, which is ironic because our other road wins have been much closer. We won at Wisconsin by 4 in overtime, Indiana by 2, Penn State by 9 in overtime, and Nebraska by 3. Winning at Ohio State by 12 is the closest thing we have had to cruise control in a road game all year.
Kaleb Wesson may be Ohio State’s leading scorer at 14.6 per game, but Purdue struggled to stop Andre Wesson back in January. The elder Wesson brother was 9 of 10 from the field and 4 of 5 from three for 22 points. This was after he had hit the critical banked in three-pointer that gave the Buckeyes a late 62-60 lead with 1:16 left last year. Because of that, I don’t like his specialty as a Boiler-killer.
Update: Wesson is now suspended:
Kaleb Wesson suspended by Ohio State. How long? Not clear. Possible big blow to the Bucks’ bubble. pic.twitter.com/3ZkcBW2nKj
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) March 1, 2019
Musa Jallow and Luther Muhammad were also in double figures back in January, but Purdue won by containing Kaleb Wesson and getting him in foul trouble. He finished the game with only six points in 16 minutes before fouling out. Overall it was a sloppy game, as Ohio State had 19 turnovers and Purdue had 18. Carsen Edwards had 27 for us and got to the line 13 times.
As a Purdue fan I am always wary in every game. It comes with the territory. I feel confident here because we are playing at home and we’re a different team there. Ohio State is a different team on the road, too. They got nice early season wins at Cincinnati and Creighton, but in conference play they are just 2-6, winning at Indiana and Nebraska. This included a road loss at Rutgers.
The Buckeyes are still a good team. They are probably an NCAA team and should they beat Northwestern and Wisconsin in their remaining two games after this one they might be able to climb into the top 30 and be a tier 1 home win as well. They don’t absolutely need this game to reach the NCAAs, but a win would likely lock them in to the tournament. We need to deny them this win because we have a lot more to play for.