This Ohio State basketball team sure does like to take things down to the wire. That’s I guess a good thing when you’re playing the No. 1 team in the country (for now), sitting right there with a shot to win it at the end.
The only bad thing about that is that this Ohio State program has had a really hard time finishing close games off, and it happened again, this time with the Buckeyes suffering another heartbreaking loss in yet another thriller The final tally was 71-69 in favor of Purdue.
Buy Buckeyes TicketsThe Buckeyes ran out of the gate with hot shooting and good defense, going up by as much as 12 points midway through the first half. But then, the Boilermakers began to find their rhythm and closed the gap quickly, going into halftime just down by three points, 36-33.
The last twenty minutes was a tight affair that went back and forth, and then Purdue did what it needed, hitting a three with under ten seconds left to take a 71-69 lead. Ohio State drew up a play for freshman Brice Sensabaugh, but it looked like the only option, was clogged up, and a desperation heave had no chance.
With the losing effort, Sensabaugh was again fantastic, scoring 21 points on 10-of-17 shots. OSU also lost a huge option down on the blocks when Zed Key left the game with an apparent shoulder injury. Justice Sueing also scored in double figures with 15 points, but that was the only two players in double figures.
Ohio State did a decent job of putting the clamps on 7-foot, 4-inch center Zach Edey, but he still finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double and seemed to always make the right pass — including the last assist — when the double-team ultimately came from the OSU defense.
Final
Ohio State: 6️⃣9️⃣
Purdue: 7️⃣1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/eBm6mH8peG— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) January 6, 2023
With the loss, Ohio State drops to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes next travel to Maryland on Sunday.
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