Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Break Losing Streak with Win over No. 15 Purdue
Note and Quotebook
By John PorentasJust when you've seen enough to become convinced that this Buckeye team has no one to step up and make plays at crunch time in big games, two of them do and they knock of the No. 15 team in the nation. Go figure.
Jamar Butler scored 25 points, 23 of them in the second half and in overtime, and both Evan Turner and Othello Hunter added 15 each as Ohio State (18-12, 9-8 Big Ten) gutted out an overtime win over No. 15 Purdue (23-7, 14-3 Big Ten) by a final of 80-77 at Value City Arena.
The win avenged a 75-68 loss to the Boilermakers at West Lafayette on January 12. The Boilermakers used that win to springboard themselves to a run at the regular-season Big Ten championship. The loss started a three-game losing streak for the Buckeyes and helped lead them to a season of frustration. Some of that frustration was relieved with the payback to the Boilermakers that took them out of first place in the Big Ten race.
"We had billboards up in our locker room since the first time they beat us, what some of their players said, so we got sick of hearing about that so we had to take them out," said Butler.
Purdue's tenacious defense and physical play was too much for the Buckeyes the first time around. This time around it was the Buckeye defense that got to Purdue and finally, after a season of searching, a couple of players stepped up to make plays at the end of a game to seal a big win. Freshman guard Evan Turner looked unstoppable as he slashed his way to the basket to help keep OSU abreast of the Boilermakers in the late going, and Butler was simply brilliant in the second half, connecting on six of seven shots from the field including five of five from three point range after failing to score a field goal in the first half. Butler also was six of six from the free throw line after the intermission.
"I thought as the game went on Jamar played stronger," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.
"He logged a lot of minutes tonight but he was in the attack mode.
"I've been on him to do that, to attack and make plays. I thought he was pretty good at that tonight. I thought he kind of had that look I've been looking for from him to have."
Butler did not score from the field in the first half, and in fact got up just one shot from the field. That's because the Boilers made him priority number one on their defensive end of the court.
"At one point Tarrance Crump their point guard told me 'You're going to be playing four on four all night because you're not going to get the ball. I was standing out there and he was denying me. That's pretty much what it was in the first half, four on four," Butler said.
"It was the way they started playing me at the beginning of the game.
"They denied me (the basketball).
"It seemed like as soon as I got rid of the ball they made sure I didn't get it back.
"Our coaching staff made an adjustment at half time, found other ways for me to get the ball and put me in situations to score and we executed our system and I knocked down some shots."
Matta described those adjustments as being "just a couple little things" and credited Butler for just being more aggressive in his second half scoring outburst.
"I think he was more aggressive. We did a couple of things different, but there were a couple times in the first half because he was standing 30 feet away from the basket and his man was turning his head and he wasn't looking to move. I thought he had a little different mindset, was more aggressive and hit a couple of big shots to get us going there in the second half," said Matta.
Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter said it wasn't defensive lapses by his team that led to Butler's scoring but rather outstanding play by Butler.
"You can actually play good defense on him and he's still going to make some shots," said Painter.
"I think at times that's what he was able to do. We did some good things and he still made some tough shots."
The tone of the game was set early. The Buckeyes started fast jumping out to a 5-0 lead, but the Boilermakers countered to tie the game at 10 apiece. From that point on, neither team led by more than four points in the first half with the lead changing hands several times. The Buckeyes led by one as the half wound down but Purdue's Scott Martin knocked down a tough three pointer with two seconds left. Martin was also fouled on the play and converted the free throw for a half-ending four-point play that put the Boilermakers up by three at the intermission, 29-26.
The play brought instant images of OSU's four-game losing streak to mind, a streak in which a big play but the opposition always seemed to go unanswered and led to OSU's demise. This time around it was different.
After a half time that was extended by problems with the shot clock, the Buckeyes came out to tie the game back up within the first 2:35 of play in the second half at 33-33. It was the first hint that there was something special going on with them. The second hint took place just after the nine minute mark. The Boilers managed to put together a little spurt that gave them a six point lead with nine minutes left to play. It was the kind of run the Buckeyes have had trouble answering all year, but particularly over the last four games. Matta called time out to talk to his team.
"I took time out and said 'Look fellas, this is where we've been, this is where we toughen up. I thought at that point we had a pretty good understanding of what we had to do," said Matta.
His team responded. Evan Turner got to the rim on a drive for an old-fashioned three point play and the Buckeyes were back in the game. Turner's play was pivotal and not a huge surprise. Turner was able to hurt Purdue with his drive the entire game.
"They were denying my teammates when the shot clock was winding down and I felt like I could take people off the dribble and that's just what I did," said Turner.
"I thought Evan Turner was a key part of the game also in the fact that we couldn't keep him in front of us," said Painter.
"He was getting to the free throw line, he was getting to the basket and scoring the ball.
"They broke us down off the dribble. Give them credit," Painter said.
The Boilers maintained a lead of one to five points from about the six minute mark until the just over two minutes left in regulation when the Buckeyes finally tied it up on a big jumper by senior forward Matt Terwilliger. Two free throws by Butler put the Buckeyes up two with 49 seconds remaining in regulation, but a pair of free throws by Purdue's E'Twaun Moore with 32 seconds to go ended up putting the game into overtime.
The Buckeyes and Boiler combined to score 29 points in the five minute overtime, 16 by OSU and 13 by Purdue. Butler scored nine of those points and Turner five. Turner also added three rebounds in the overtime, but it was a defensive play by Othello Hunter that really sealed the deal for the Buckeyes.
With OSU leading by two the Boilers had to inbound the basketball under their own basket with six seconds remaining on the shot clock. The Buckeyes put Hunter on the Purdue's Chris Kramer who was inbounding the ball. Hunter's defense forced Kramer to call a timeout when he could not get the ball in. Out of the timeout Hunter was able to tip Kramer's inbound attempt to result in an OSU steal. The play led to an open jumper for Turner who knocked down the shot to put OSU up by four at 76-72 with 25 seconds to play.
"They told me to get a little block on the inbounds, make sure you get a block, talk junk to him, so I was doing just that," said Hunter.
"I looked at his (Kramer's) eyes and I knew he wasn't going to throw it so I just jumped."
A three pointer by Purdue's Robbie Hummel cut the lead back to one with 20 seconds remaining, but a pair of free throws by Butler extended OSU's lead back to three with 16 seconds left to go. Moore missed a three point attempt with 12 seconds on the clock and when Turner rebounded he was fouled. Turner made both free throws to put OSU up five at 80-75 with just nine seconds to play and sealed the deal for the Buckeyes. A field goal by Purdue with two seconds left made the final margin three points.
The win broke OSU's four-game losing streak, got them their payback with the Boilers, and seemed to lift the weight of the world off the shoulders of the Buckeyes.
"It feels like things finally went our way for once," said Butler.
"All season it seemed like we were on the other end, couldn't make the plays down the stretch.
"Today we stepped up and made big plays toward the end of the game and came home with a win.
"It feels good to win a game again and be back on the other side, the winning instead of the losing.
"It felt good that we were on the other end shooting the free throws, they had to foul us. We had to go to the free throw line and make big free throws and big shots down the stretch and I think we did that."
* Props to Archie: Jamar Butler's shot has not been falling of late, but he broke out of his shooting slump in a big way in the second half against Purdue. Butler credited a member of OSU's coaching staff for that fact.
"Coach Archie Miller got with me after our last two practices and we went around seven spots and I had to hit nine out of ten. I couldn't leave the gym until I hit all of them," explained Butler.
"He was telling me if I make them on these days I'll make them in the game and he was right. Those extra shots paid off."
Miller also got props from Othello Hunter. Hunter made a pair of critical free throws as regulation wound down after having missed three of his first six free throw attempts in the game.
"I just heard Coach Arch on the bench behind me saying 'Come on, you've got to make these free throws,' so I just thought about that and said no more missed free throws and knocked them down," said Hunter.
Props to Twig: Senior forward Matt Terwilliger was on the floor for the last eleven minutes of the game despite the fact that he was playing with four fouls. Terwilliger hit a big shot in regulation to help send the game into overtime and played very tenacious defense when he was on the court.
"Twig played great for us. He was a spark off the bench. As soon as he comes in the game it feels like he lifts us up. It feels like he gets us playing harder. He's always out there talking and being the senior leader that he is," said Butler.
"I thought he played a great basketball game," agreed Matta.
"He hit the big shot down there in the corner. He was very active defensively and had a very good feel for what was going on."
Terwilliger's minutes came at the expense of Kosta Koufos who went out of the game with 6:25 remaining in regulation and did not return.
* Foreshadowing Victory: The Buckeyes have looked very much like a team that might not win again over the last four games, particularly in their last outing against Minnesota, but according to Thad Matta, there were signs this week that things might be changing.
"We had two really good practices this week," said Matta. "I thought by the way we practiced that we would execute offensively."
Turner said that he too saw signs at practice.
"Yesterday when we were practicing the look in our eyes how we were playing, we had a good practice yesterday, I just knew we were going to come in and win. That what we did. We came here to win. We didn't want anybody cutting nets down on our floor," Turner said.
* Dishing to Brent: Evan Turner ended the game with 15 points, a team-high eight rebounds, three assists and a steal. That's a very good stat line, but his night was not without mishaps as well.
"I was a little concerned on how he started the game. He had the errant pass there to Mr. Mussberger and he gave up a couple on defense," quipped OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.
"To his credit he bounced back and was very, very aggressive. He had two shots in the first half that he got to the rim and they didn't go down for him. The second half they went down. I felt like he was pretty aggressive with the basketball."
Turner's biggest gaff came at the end of the half when he was called for the foul that led to Purdue's four-point play, though after the game a smiling Turner took some exception to the call.
"Out of all the fouls that they missed they called that, that was kind of ...kind of impressive," said a grinning Turner.
* Shot Clock Gambit: The second half was delayed about 10 minutes while OSU technicians fixed a problem with the shot clock. Matta joked that it was all in his plan.
"I told ESPN that it was intentional because we practice like this and we know they don't," Matta deadpanned, then added "I don't know what the hell happened."
* Taking One for the Team: Matta has been battling back problems all season and it was somewhat of a scary moment when he was run over on the sidelines by a Purdue player who was trying to save a ball from going out of bounds. Matta went down, but got up (with some difficulty) and continued to coach. He said he was fine after the game but joked "It was definitely a charge. He got me pretty good on the knee, but I'm fine."
* Milestone: The win against Purdue makes the senior class of Jamar Butler and Matt Terwilliger the winningest class in OSU history with 99 wins. The previous record holders were the class of 1963 consisting of Richard Reasbeck and Douglas McDonald.
* Still Winless: Purdue is now 0-5 in Value City Arena.
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