INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – It wasn’t always pretty to look at, but the Buckeyes survived to play another day, beating Purdue, 63-61, in the opening round of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament.
Fifth-seeded Ohio State will play No. 4 seed Nebraska in a quarterfinal game Friday afternoon (2:30 p.m./ESPN).
LaQuinton Ross scored 19 points and Aaron Craft finished with 16 but Purdue (15-17) didn’t make it easy.
The Boilermakers stayed closer than expected, trailing just 30-27 at halftime. The Buckeyes (24-8) trailed much of the second half and Purdue still had a chance to win it at the end.
“Early on today we didn’t have — I didn’t feel that energy that we wanted, that we needed. Second half I thought they did a pretty decent job with that, guys talking it through, this is what we’re going to do, this is how we’re going to do it, more engaged,’ head coach Thad Matta said.
Ohio State seemingly had control after a 12-3 run gave it a late 59-54 lead with 3:24 left. But after the Buckeyes missed two free throws in the final 15 seconds, senior Terone Johnson’s buzzer-beating 3-point shot off a deliberately missed free throw came up short.
After the game, Matta and his players expressed their hope that they had shaken off the doldrums.
“This is now my fourth Big Ten Tournament, and luckily in the past, we’ve done a better job the next game when we come out. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to do that this year. It’s a different year, and we need to take it upon ourselves to find a way to get ready,” Craft said
A.J. Hammons finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Johnson finished with 10 for the 12th seeded Boilermakers, who were eliminated after a seventh straight loss.
Ohio State leads the all-time series with the Cornhuskers
10-3 but is only 1-1 on neutral floors.
The Buckeyes and Cornhuskers split their 2014 regular season matchups. Ohio State won the first game, 84-53, in Columbus Jan. 4 and Nebraska evened the season series with a 68-62 win in Lincoln on Jan. 20.