Men's Basketball
Boilermakers Rough Up Buckeyes for Big Ten Win
By John PorentasWelcome to Big Ten Basketball.
Ohio State's freshman-heavy men's basketball team finally got a taste of real Big Ten conference play on their visit to West Lafayette. They got a lesson and they also got a loss, falling to the Boilermakers (11-5, 2-1 Big Ten) by a final of 75-68 in a game that, in the best tradition of Big Ten basketball, sometimes looked more like a mixed martial arts bout than a basketball game.
Ohio State (12-4, 3-1 Big Ten) opened Big Ten play with games against Illinois, Northwestern and Iowa that were a-typical for league play. For one thing, nobody got knocked out. As a matter of fact, there wasn't even any blood, but in West Lafayette the Buckeyes got a full dose of Big Ten rough and tumble hoops.
"It was physical. That's just how the Big Ten is. It wasn't something that we didn't expect," OSU guard/forward David Lighty said.
Lighty, Jamar Butler, Othello Hunter and Matt Terwilliger knew what to expect, but for players like Kosta Koufos, Jon Diebler, Evan Turner and Dallas Lauderdale, all of whom saw significant minutes in the game, it was a baptism by fire.
"I don't know if our guys were shocked or what, but you've got to get used to it in the Big Ten. Nothing is going to change," said Butler.
"Purdue is just Purdue. That's how they play. They play physical and they pressure a lot and that's all you can say about it.
"You just have to be tough. Flat out, it's all about toughness," Butler said.
OSU was tough for a half and led by as many as 10 before the intermission. Butler scored 16 first-half points on six of nine shooting that included four of six from three point range. The rest of the Buckeyes managed just 20 total points.
The Buckeyes ran into trouble as soon as the intermission ended. The Boilermakers scored the first 10 points of the half to turn a seven point OSU lead into a three point Purdue lead, and the fight was on.
"They came out and blitzed us there at the start of the second half and we got knocked on our heels," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.
The Boilers concentrated on limiting Koufos' shots and dogging Butler with two defenders in the hopes of wearing him down.
"You could tell that he's the heart and soul of their team. That was our strategy to try and wear him down," said Purdue's Keaton Grant.
The physical play combined with an officiating crew that didn't seem to mind allowing contact made for a back and forth game that was characterized by turnovers and missed opportunities by both teams. There were six lead changes and four ties in the game.
"Tonight was like a Boys Club game going back and forth there," said Purdue Head Coach Mat Painter.
"That was more of a traditional Big Ten game where you're going back and forth at each other, they're allowing some bumps, allowing some contact out there.
"We could have folded a couple of times and didn't. They could have folded a couple of times and they did not. It's very important for guys to be able to answer the bell," Painter said.
Painter's team was able to answer the bell more times than the Buckeyes did and earned the win. In doing so they erased the memory 14 losses in 15 outings against OSU and eight-straight losses. The recent history of the series had been in the news all week in West Lafayette, and Boilermakers drew on the talk to get off the canvas one more time than the Buckeyes could.
"We just got tired of O-State this, O-State that, O-State this, so I think we just got fed up with and we just had to knock them out," said Purdue leading scorer Marcus Green who finished with 22 points.
The Boilers were able to deliver their knockout punch by simply wearing down the Buckeyes with their physical play, particularly on Butler. Butler canned a three pointer with 8:11 left in the game, but did not score another field goal the rest of the way. Not coincidently, that's when the Boilermakers made their move.
Butler's last trey put OSU up by one at 52-51, but when Butler was unable to score from the field the rest of the way the Boilers were able to open a 10 point lead at 68-58 with 1:36 remaining.
The Buckeyes were able to foul the Boilers to stop the clock and the Boilers accommodated by being less-than efficient at the free throw line as the game wound down. They also put the Buckeyes at the line and allowed them to score with the clock stop. OSU actually closed to within three with 26 seconds remaining to play, but could get no closer as the Boilers converted their last four-consecutive free throws.
The Boilermakers outrebounded OSU and the Buckeyes 20 turnovers in the physical game. Head Coach Thad Matta is hoping his team will take some lessons about physical games from from their experience at Purdue.
"One thing is finishing plays be it rebounds, losing them out of bounds, intercepted passes hitting us in the hands, taking care of the basketball," said Matta.
"We've got to step up and make some shots. We had some great looks at the basket that didn't go down for us. You go on the road you've got to be able to do that. We had opportunities and could not capitalize.
"I don't know if they thought there was going to be contact and there wasn't. It's just that mentality of we were tapping balls when we should have grabbed them," Matta said.
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