With five made threes, Ohio State took a nine-point lead into halftime.
That said, it was again the team’s defense that was overly strong, holding the Boilermakers to a mere 20 points. At 6-7 in the conference, the Buckeyes needed to come out with a strong performance against a Purdue team that has struggled away from Mackey Arena this year.
Having issues scoring at times this season, the Buckeyes 29 halftime points do not come as a surprise.
Ohio State was led by CJ Walker with seven points and Andre Wesson with six. However, offensively, it was truly a full team performance in the first half with seven players on the scoreboard.
The Buckeyes shot 48% from the floor and limited Purdue to just 32%. With just 47 combined shots in the first half, this game was a turnover-filled grind as the team’s also combined for 16 turnovers.
An exciting second half is in store for the Buckeyes, who desperately need this win after a January that put them behind the eight-ball.
So far, so good.