Jamison Battle scored all 19 of his points in the second half as Ohio State stunned No. 2 Purdue 73-69 on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, giving Jake Diebler a successful debut as interim head coach for the Buckeyes.
Battle made a pair of free throws with one second left for the final margin, ensuring the Buckeyes’ first win over a top-five team since beating then-No. 1 Duke on Nov. 30, 2021.
Bruce Thornton added 22 points for the Buckeyes (15-11, 5-10 Big Ten).
Zach Edey scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Lance Jones added 13 points for the Boilermakers (23-3, 12-3), who had a nine-game winning streak snapped.
Diebler replaced Chris Holtmann, who was fired on Wednesday in his seventh season at the helm, as the Buckeyes are headed for a second straight season without making the NCAA Tournament. In the past two seasons under Holtmann, they were 30-30 overall and 9-25 in conference play.
Ohio State led by five at the break and extended the lead to 50-38 at the 14:20 mark of the second half after three consecutive 3-pointers by Battle.
The Boilermakers, who trailed Minnesota by 10 at home in the first minute of the second half before pulling out an 84-76 win on Thursday, clawed their way back again and tied it at 65 with a Jones 3-pointer, but Battle hit a midrange jumper to make it 67-65 with 1:19 left.
Battle then canned two free throws for a 69-65 lead with 34 seconds left. Edey slammed home a putback dunk to make it 69-67, but Thornton made two free throws with eight seconds left.
After a Braden Smith layup, Battle was fouled and hit both shots from the line.
The Buckeyes went on a 10-2 run with Edey on the bench to take a 35-30 halftime lead. Edey sat the final 4:30 of the first half after picking up his second foul. He exited with six points and the Boilermakers ahead 28-23.
Ohio State took its first lead, 29-28, with 3:07 left on a layup by Austin Parks for the freshman center’s first collegiate field goal. Purdue missed its last five shots of the period while the Buckeyes scored six unanswered points.
–Field Level Media
