Ohio State vs. Purdue Big Ten Quarterfinals Game Preview
Thursday's scare against Minnesota might just be exactly what the Buckeyes needed.
Entering the Big Ten Tournament on a 4-game losing streak, the team certainly would be willing to take a win any way they could muster one. But the idea of winning a close game that nearly turned into a disastrous loss is perhaps the exact kind of feeling you want your team to leave with in the opening game of the tournament.
After an amazingly consistent (and successful) stretch of basketball, the Buckeyes have shown they are vulnerable over the last two weeks. Beating Minnesota in a nail-biter when the lead was once 14 points late in the second half I think is precisely what OSU needed as they prepare for a third meeting with Purdue.
The fifth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes are projected to be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, should that tournament have opened this weekend. Think about that - how crazy deep is the league that a fifth place team is considered among the eight best nationally?
As the Buckeyes look to make a run at a conference title, fourth-seeded Purdue stands in the way in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Trevion Williams is an all-conference performer that gave Ohio State fits in each of the two matchups. Freshman center Zach Edey stands at 7-foot-4 and was a nightmare for the Buckeyes when he was on the floor. Freshman guard Jaden Ivey, who along with Edey made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, broke Buckeye hearts earlier this year by hitting a game-winning 3-pointer in Columbus. That was OSU's only loss during a nearly perfect six weeks of basketball.
Ohio State started Thursday's game with a run-and-gun type show. They were throwing down dunks at a rate we haven't seen all year and ripped off 13 straight points to start the game. Who knows if they'll have a similar start against Purdue, but one thing is for sure - the Boilermakers are extremely young and the Buckeyes need to play into that.
According to KenPom.com, Purdue ranks 328th (out of 347 teams) in experience (1.04 years). Purdue is the lowest-ranked team via experience that figures to be an NCAA Tournament lock. I think Ohio State needs to ratchet up the pressure early in the game and try to make Purdue as uncomfortable as possible early on.
That said, head coach Matt Painter knows what it takes to succeed this time of year. Purdue has received a double-bye in every tournament that has been played under the current format. It did not receive a double-bye in last year's tournament that was canceled. Furthermore, they've reached the title game in two of the last four tournaments (2016 - lost to Michigan State; 2018 - lost to Michigan). In the other two seasons it did not reach the finals (2017, 2019), Purdue won the regular-season championship.
Ohio State has shown they have the ability to play at an extremely high level, but they haven't shot the ball the last three weeks nearly as well as they did during their stretch of 10 wins over 11 games. Friday will likely have to be a much more efficient day offensively if the Buckeyes are going to advance to play the winner of Michigan vs. Maryland in a semifinal on Saturday afternoon.
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