National Basketball Association
Ohio St. 88, Purdue 71
When: 8:55 PM ET, Friday, March 9, 2012
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials:
# Bill Ek, # Gene Steratore, # Terry Wymer
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
Ohio State 88, Purdue 71: Jared Sullinger had a season-high 30 points and 12 rebounds as the No. 7 Buckeyes used a late-second half run to cruise in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.
Deshaun Thomas added 14 of his 22 points in the first half to complement Sullinger’s 14th double-double of the season as Ohio State (26-6) won its seventh straight conference tournament game since losing to Purdue (21-12) in the 2009 final.
The third-seeded Buckeyes will meet second-seeded Michigan in Saturday's semifinals, hoping to avenge a Feb. 18 regular season loss to the Wolverines.
The sixth-seeded Boilermakers closed to within 65-61 with 6:46 remaining on a jumper from D.J. Byrd but missed their next five shots, allowing Ohio State to convert three straight layups and put the game away with a 14-0 run.
By the time Byrd ended the Boilermakers’ field goal drought more than four minutes later, the Buckeyes held a commanding 81-66 lead.
Byrd, who scored a career-high 24 points in his team’s earlier loss to Ohio State on Feb. 7, finished with 20 points for Purdue, which allowed the Buckeyes to shoot 60.7 percent – a season high against the Boilermakers.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Sullinger and Thomas combined to score 29 of Ohio State’s 40 first-half points. … Purdue shot 11 of 25 from the 3-point line, the tenth time this season it has managed to hit at least 10 in a game. … Ohio State improved to 18-8 in the Big Ten tournament.
Top Game Performances
Purdue |
|
Ohio St. |
D.J. Byrd 20 |
Scoring |
Jared Sullinger 30 |
Lewis Jackson 10 |
Assists |
Aaron Craft 7 |
Robbie Hummel 10 |
Rebounds |
Jared Sullinger 12 |
D.J. Byrd 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Jared Sullinger 5 |
Lewis Jackson 2 |
Steals |
Aaron Craft 1 |
Robbie Hummel 1 |
Blocks |
Jared Sullinger 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Purdue
|
71 |
39.7 |
12-26 |
9-15 |
14 |
23 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
Ohio St.
|
88 |
60.7 |
4-16 |
10-14 |
16 |
35 |
6 |
1 |
7 |