Purdue had thrust itself into the Big Ten race in familiar fashion. It shot selectively, defended ardently and played like a happy family with an unbending will.
Ohio State had fallen into the Big Ten netherworld by doing the opposite. It shot randomly, defended passively and played like a dysfunctional family with a case of the quits.
What happened Saturday when they met at Mackey Arena was nothing less than a monumental bit of role reversal. The Boilermakers, playing at home, coughed up a late, four-point lead and collapsed in the game’s crucial stretch.
The Buckeyes, winless on the road, showed some spine, scored on their final six possessions and pulled off a stunning 65-59 upset of their hosts.
“I don’t have any answers,” Purdue coach Gene Keady growled. “We weren’t tough enough today. They were tougher.”
Ohio State guard J.J. Sullinger wouldn’t disagree.
“At a certain point you have to stand up and be a man,” he said. “In the past we’ve had times when we folded. Today we decided not to fold. We talked in the locker room before the game about how tough Purdue is and that we had to be as tough. That’s what we did today.”
The Buckeyes (10-10, 2-5) held the No. 21 Boilermakers (14-6, 4-3), playing without injured star Kenneth Lowe, to 36.2 percent shooting while they shot a gaudy 51.1 percent. They outrebounded Purdue 32-26 and worked diligently enough on the boards to get 14 second-chance points to only four for their opponent.
The Buckeyes scored 36 points in the paint, another indication of their dominance down low, and limited the Boilermakers’ five big men to three field goals and only 14 points. But they saved their most impressive work for the final three minutes, which they entered down four (56-52) and staggering.
Purdue had built its lead behind guard David Teague (22 points) and a defense that had limited Ohio State to three points in the previous five minutes. At 2:42, however, Buckeyes guard Ricardo Billings nailed an open three-pointer from the left corner and suddenly it was a one-point affair.
Teague pushed Purdue’s lead to three with a pair of free throws at 2:24, but the Boilermakers scored only one more point as Ohio State took over. Sullinger scored in the paint. Then Terrence Dials’ defensive pressure forced Boilermakers center Ivan Kartelo to travel.
Buckeyes guard Tony Stockman (team-high 17 points) penetrated and dished to Dials for a dunk and a free throw that put the Buckeyes up 60-58 at 58 seconds. Then Boilermakers guard Brandon McKnight shot an air ball from 18 feet, Stockman fell out of bounds with the rebound and Teague missed from the right wing.
That brought the game to its final 30 seconds, during which the Buckeyes hit five free throws and Purdue made one. Then Ohio State celebrated its unlikely victory and the Boilermakers were losers for the second straight game.
“We came out not ready to play,” Teague said. “Maybe some of the guys took them lightly. We don’t have anyone to blame but ourselves.”
Except, maybe, the Buckeyes.
“Any win would have been good for us because we need to get some confidence going,” Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien said. “We’ve been struggling and it would have been easy for our kids to stay down. So to win here against one of the better teams in the conference is very, very satisfying.”
