Ohio State basketball withstands Purdue’s comeback in 87-78 OT win, plays Michigan in Big Ten semifinal – cleveland.com

INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State basketball survived a double-digit Purdue comeback to knock off the Boilermakers 87-78 in overtime Friday to advance to Saturday’s Big Ten semifinal against Michigan.

The Buckeyes advanced despite again struggling in the second half and wasting an 18-point halftime lead. .

With 1:48 to go, Trevion Williams (26 points) made a hook shot over E.J. Liddell (17 points) to cut Ohio State’s lead down to two points. On the next possession, he tied the game with another hook shot. Those points capped off a 9-0 run for the Boilermakers while the Buckeyes failed to score for 5:02 until Justice Sueing (six points) made two free throws to give them a 72-70 lead.

Williams responded again with another layup to tie the game. With 10 seconds to set up a game-winner, C.J. Walker dribbled into traffic and lost the ball as time ran out.

In its first overtime of the season, Ohio State got a much-needed boost from Seth Towns, whose trey with 2:54 left provided a four-point cushion, and then followed with a pull-up jumper. On the next possession, OSU ran the same action a third straight time and Duane Washington Jr. (20 points) connected on an open three to make it 83-76.

Purdue never got the game back within six again.

Behind the shooting of Kyle Young, the Buckeyes took a 49-31 halftime lead. The senior big man had made just nine threes all season, but was 4-for-5 in the first half. He hit three straight from beyond the arc within the game’s first five minutes.

Then he put the perfect punctuation on what was a flawless first 20 minutes, with his fourth three ending the half with 18 points. He played just four minutes in the second half before taking an elbow to the head from Williams. He had a similar collision at the end of the Michigan game on Feb. 21, and entered concussion protocol and missed OSU’s next game against Michigan State.

The Buckeyes did everything right in the first half, shooting 56 percent from the field, while the Boilermakers struggled to do much of anything. They shot just 39 percent, while big man Zach Edey (11 points) was the only player to have an efficient half.

As impressive as it was to take an 18-point lead into halftime, the real test would be how OSU would perform in the final 20 minutes.

Purdue’s run came as expected. Jaden Ivey — the same player responsible for capping off the comeback win in Columbus during the regular season — led that charge finishing with 19 points. Nine came on three consecutive treys in a span of 90 seconds. While Purdue made its run, Ohio State failed to make a field goal over 8:20.

The Buckeyes have spent the past three weeks showing a lack of poise in the closing minutes, and it has followed them in the first two games in Indianapolis.

What’s Next

Ohio State’s reward for finally getting a win over Purdue is a second shot at Michigan. The two played in what was one of the best regular-season games of the year in a 92-87 Wolverines win.