The Ohio State basketball program upsets second-ranked Purdue

The Ohio State basketball program played in its first game since Chris Holtmann was fired on Sunday. They took on second-ranked Purdue with Jake Diebler now at the helm. He is the interim head coach for the rest of the season and is hoping to give himself a chance at the permanent job next season.

He gave a heck of a first impression. The Buckeyes took down the Boilermakers 73-69 for their first win over a ranked team since beating Alabama three months ago. It’s the first time this season that Ohio State has looked like a confident basketball team down the stretch of a game. In most of those games, they choke.

Ohio State basketball takes down Purdue with solid second-half offense

It was great second-half offense that helped the Buckeyes win the game. Jamison Battle scored all 19 of his points in the second half. Bruce Thornton scored 8 of his 22 in the second half as well. Those two players were the driving force behind the Buckeyes’ offense, but they weren’t the only contributors.

Zed Key played his best game of the season. He had 9 points, which was important, but he also had 5 steals. He had never had more than two in a game coming into this one. Key’s defense on Zach Edey was one of the big reasons why the Buckeyes were able to win this game. He didn’t let himself get pushed around.

It’s unclear what this win means for the rest of this Ohio State basketball season. It might be too little too late for this team to do anything of note this season, but it gives them some hope going into next year. Ohio State would have to have an epic run to finish the season to squeak out an NCAA Tournament bid. This is a good start though.

I feel really good for Diebler. The players played hard for him and he kept his composure throughout. If he doesn’t get another win this season, he’ll always have this upset to look back on.