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| Purdue senior Guard E'Twaun Moore (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images North America) |
With the Madness of March barely a week away, the 11th nationally ranked Purdue Boilermakers upset the visiting third ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 76 – 63 in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 14,000 at Purdue’s Mackey Arena Sunday afternoon.
The Boilermaker victory avenged an 87-64 loss in Columbus, Ohio on Jan 25, the first time these two Big Ten powerhouses met.
This win further closes the gap between Purdue (22-5, 11-3 Big Ten) and Ohio State (26-2, 13-2 Big Ten) to within one game of the conference lead, and bumps Purdue up from 11th in both the AP top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll to eight in the country in both week 16 polls.
The Boilermakers were led by senior guard E’Twaun Moore, whose 38 points and five assists were a game high. “He’s my favorite player,” said Purdue first semester freshman Tyler Behmke. “He’s going to the league, I promise you that. That was the most clutch performance I’ve ever seen.”
The verb clutch may best describe Moore’s performance Sunday, his two late three pointers, along with a first half exciting break away lay up, electrified the crowd and seemed to take the life out of Ohio State.
The Buckeyes seemed to have no answer for Purdue’s most celebrated veteran, who was easily the game’s most valuable player.
E’Twaun Moore shot 13-18 from the field, including 7-10 from three point range. He more than doubled his season averages of 18.1 ppg and 3.1 apg, proving that Moore was more than ready to answer the bell when called upon.
Moore wasn’t the games only hero however. Fellow senior center Ja’Juan Johnson went 4-10 from the floor and scored 13 points to go along with six rebounds and two blocked shots. The 6-10 Johnson is considered to be the team’s top NBA prospect, and has been the team’s leading scorer this season, averaging 20.4 ppg.
“This is the first game I’ve been to all season, and what a game to pick, huh,”
said alumni Robert Earl. “Who would have thought that this team would be this good. Considering we lost Hummel, I can’t wait to see what Sportscenter has to say now”.
Earl was referring to Purdue super star Senior Robbie Hummel, who was regarded as Purdue’s best player, before being lost for the entire season when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in October.
The team was thought to be a non-factor following Hummel’s injury, but the Boilermakers are slowly proving to everyone that great teams win games, not great players.
“ This win is huge for this team, this colleges, and the entire town of West Lafayette,” added Purdue student Tyler Behmke. “This school may call [Indiana University] their big rivals, but I know one thing, we all enjoy beating the [tar] out of Ohio State as well”.
Ohio State was led by freshman forward Jared Sullinger, who scored 25 points during the game. Buckeye’s guard Jon Diebler added 11 points, while 10 points were scored by both forward David Lightly and guard Aaron Craft, who managed to keep Ohio State in the game.
Purdue will look to finish out the regular season as strongly as they played today, with upcoming games at rival Indiana University on Wednesday Feb 23, and at Michigan State that Friday.
Ohio State will look to rebound from this tough defeat on Sunday when they host Indiana University before closing out the regular season with games at Penn State on March 1 precluding the epic rematch against 12 ranked Wisconsin, who handed Ohio State their first lose of the season earlier this month.
If there is one thing that Purdue’s victory has given their fans, it’s hope: Hope that this team could make the entire state of Indiana proud; hope that everyone who doubted this team after the los of Hummel will one day have to eat their words.
Purdue coach Matt Painter talked to Sportsillustrated.com about his “new” star not named Hummel.
"He gets into those rhythms and gets going, he can score points in bunches," Painter said. "I've always thought he was one of the best guards in the country when he lets things come to him. He didn't force a lot. That's really, whether he takes 10 shots or 20 shots, the deal with him. If he can do that, he really, really helps our team."
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