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Men's Basketball
The Buckeye Watch - Purdue
By Tony Gerdeman

There are generally three or four guaranteed losses for every Big Ten team, even for those at the top of the heap like Ohio State. These games are at Ohio State, at Purdue, at Wisconsin and at Michigan State. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they don't have to play two of those games.

So, basically, where Ohio State stands now is essentially where even the most diehard of fans could have only hoped to see them to start the season. The Buckeyes are 25-2. It's the second-best record in America.

Sure, the 76-63 loss at Purdue hurts. For one, it brings the Big Ten standings together even tighter than before, but it's still just a loss that was also supposed to be a loss way back in November.

Think of it like a budget. The Buckeyes can afford this loss. They put away for it. Of course, E'Twaun Moore charged a little bit more than Ohio State was planning on paying, but what're you gonna do?

12:58 I am watching this game from the bowels of Mackey Arena. I am all alone in the media room. There is a pan of chicken Alfredo, a pan of spaghetti, and some stupid salad with stupid black olives. If I wanted to, I could just pull my chair up to the food table and eat from straight from the pans.

12:59 Well, I'm in front of the pans now, and I'm not proud of it.

1:04 I've got a feeling that instead of jacking up threes like he's Michael Adams under Paul Westhead, JaJuan Johnson will instead bang down low early on in an effort to get Jared Sullinger in foul trouble.

1:06 Sullinger opens with a soft and easy hook for two. He got way too deep. No double team that time. I bet that changes.

1:07 Sullinger is two for two now. Neither time was he double-teamed. It's too easy for him right now. (That was not a complaint.)

1:08 “They give you all of the foods in the food groups.” Clark Kellogg being Clark Kellogg. My only question regarding that analogy is who are the fruits and who are the vegetables?

1:09 More two-man game between Jon Diebler and Sullinger, and it leads to a drive and basket, including the and-one by Diebler. He's been taking it to the hole very well the last month or so.

1:11 Lewis Jackson blows by William Buford for the and-one. Buford sits with two fouls already. Aaron Craft comes in and immediately gets fouled. The crowd chants “Flopper Flopper Flopper!”

1:13 Diebler drains a turnaround three with the shot clock buzzing. That's a pretty decent sign, though I'm not convinced it was a three-pointer. It gets immediately answered by E'Twaun Moore's own three-pointer. Copy! Oh, and that three-pointer ties the Big Ten career record, by the way.

1:16 Teddy Valentine and Jared Sullinger are talking, and Valentine's head is moving back and forth like a mallrat's.

1:19 Great look from Deshaun Thomas down to Sullinger for the quick layup. Everybody in the arena was expecting a shot except for Sully there.

1:20 Sullinger just got fouled by JaJuan Johnson. Let's do more of that. They went right at him again with Sullinger and he just powered through Johnson like a high school football team running through a paper banner.

1:24 I find it hilarious that fans of Chris Kramer's former school would chant "flopper" at ANYBODY. May as well chant “We are not aware of the meaning of 'Irony'.”

1:30 The Buckeyes have gone a few minutes without scoring, but they're only down one. As long as they can stay close like this without William Buford playing, thing may not be so bad. It's amazing how much easier he makes it for the team to score when he's out there.

1:31 Speak of the devil, Buford's back out there, and gets fouled. Purdue leads 18-15 with 8:19 to play as Buford goes to the line. He makes both, and then leaves for Dallas Lauderdale.

1:37 William Buford comes back in again and bounces in a three to get the lead back. So fun to watch when his shot is falling, and it's pretty cool to see him become the go-to scorer on this team.

1:39 Two straight putbacks for Jared Sullinger on missed shots. Somebody should box out the big man, but I don't want to pretend to be a coach or anything. Buckeyes lead it 24-21.

1:41 Sullinger picks up his second foul. It was an anticipated foul call and not a real foul call. The ref never saw a foul, he just thought he did.

1:42 Deshaun Thomas is really struggling right now. He had a great week of practice, but he's just trying too hard to be good instead of just BEING GOOD.

1:44 The place is going crazy right now because Purdue got the lead back. E'Twaun Moore is wrecking stuff. I can't hear anything from where I am unless something amazing happens. A low rumble occurs, and then I know something bad is about to happen because the television is delayed a second or two. Purdue leads it 32-28 with under two minutes to play.

1:49 I like it when I don't hear anything. Like on that layup by Aaron Craft. It's either earthquakes or crickets. Show me...CRICKETS!

1:50 David Lighty with a huge three-pointer to cut the lead to 35-33. He had a hand in his face. Not a great shot, but he got a good look. The Buckeyes gotta get scoring from somewhere right now with Buford and Sullinger watching from the bench.

1:52 E'Twaun Moore hits an 18-footer at the buzzer to close out the half, giving the Boilermakers the 37-33 lead. Nice fight by the Buckeyes to withstand that run by Purdue, but I wonder if they were saved by the bell a bit. Sure that Lighty three-pointer helped, but they still need to get some stops. Moore was fantastic the last ten minutes. He's got 18 points on 7-10 shooting and 4-6 from three-point land.

1:55 The Buckeyes are only down four points and William Buford only took one shot. Ohio State is going to be much more difficult to defend in the second half.

2:09 Aaron Craft starts the second half and Lewis Jackson drives right by him for the layup. Not a great start.

2:10 Diebler hits an open three from the wing and sets a new Big Ten record for three-pointers made in a career. Now he can begin putting the record permanently out of reach.

2:17 Twice now Craft has passed up layups in traffic. I'm guessing he thinks JaJuan Johnson is omnipresent.

2:24 Craft forces a shot up in traffic. Weird day for him today.

2:25 The Buckeyes are down 50-42 with 13:57 to play. Will be interesting to see how they finish.

2:29 I actually just dozed off. Dallas Lauderdale picked up his fourth foul. Pasta makes me sleepy. Maybe the Buckeyes had pasta for their pregame meal.

2:39 Aaron Craft is an amazing defender. Imagine Deion Sanders with Ronnie Lott's mindset. Buckeyes still down by ten though.

2:42 Uh oh! Buckeyes back to within six following a fastbreak dunk by Sullinger, who was also fouled. Ohio State hasn't given up yet. 56-50 with under eight minutes to play.

2:44 Seriously, how are the Buckeyes even in this game? The offense goes silent for minutes at a time, but here we are, just a few possessions separating the two teams.

2:45 Huge turnover by E'Twaun Moore, dropping a pass out of bounds after David Lighty flashed his way. Buckeyes down five points. Then Sullinger gets triple-teamed and loses the ball.

2:48 That might have just done it. E'Twaun Moore saves a backcourt violation, then hits a bailout three-pointer. Then Sullinger turns it over on the next possession inside of a triple team. Purdue leads it 61-53 with 5:20 to play.

2:55 It has not been a great day for David Lighty. I won't go into details, but let's just say if today was a car wreck, the rubber neckers would be stretched for miles. Buckeyes still down by eight with 3:55 to play. There's only one time for one more run for Ohio State and it has to happen soon.

2:59 Steal by Buford ahead to Sullinger for the dunk! Buckeyes down by four points with 2:34 to play. Purdue calls timeout. They've cut a ten-point lead down to four in about a minute. They've already done the hard part. The rest should be cake.

3:01 E'Twaun Moore is awesome today. He just hit another three that he had no business taking. That's the backbreaker. He's got 34 points so far. Boilers lead it 68-61 with 1:48 to play.

3:04 Ballgame. The Buckeyes are fouling. Purdue is hitting free throws. The crowd is happy. There's no longer any point in watching the game.

3:06 Boilers win 76-63. Another loss on the road for the Buckeyes. Time to sell the stock. Board up the windows. Salt the earth.

3:07 Nice game by E'Twaun Moore. Hopefully we never have to see him again, and I'm even talking like out in public, but we'll probably see him again in the Big Ten Tournament because that's the only way we'll get our money's worth. Stupid money's worth.

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