Butler's 25 kept longshot tourney hopes alive
(AP Photo: Terry Gilliam)With the season on the brink, Ohio State got 25 points from Jamar Butler, 23 in the second half and overtime, leading the Buckeyes to a shocking 80-77 overtime victory over Purdue tonight in the Schott. Butler drained five triples after halftime and went 8/8 from the stripe in his best game since a 20 point, 6 assist performance back on January 29th at Penn State.
Some would argue the result wasn't a true upset considering the Buckeyes were favored by a bucket in Vegas but anyone who has watched the Buckeyes go 2-6 the last four weeks would surely say otherwise. More importantly, the win breathed some air back into Ohio State's NCAA bubble though a victory over Michigan State on Sunday remains a requirement.
In a close game that featured 15 lead changes, OSU seized the lead for good (74-72) behind two free throws from Othello Hunter with 1:25 left in overtime. Following a Butler steal on Purdue's ensuing possession, Evan Turner hit a short jumper from the right block giving the Buckeyes a 76-72 lead with 26 ticks left.
Robbie Hummel responded with a three to cut the lead to 76-75 but Butler hit two free throws with the Boilers forced to foul the league's best foul shooter putting OSU in front by three, 78-75 with 16.7 remaining.
At this point, I admit to expecting the worst but E'Twaun Moore's triple try was rebounded by Turner and he promptly buried two free throws to put the game on ice.
Complementing Butler's 23 points after intermission, Turner added 15 of his own to go along with 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 4 turnovers. The freshman / senior combo scored 12 of OSU's 16 points in the extra session.
Othello Hunter also had a big night with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks picking up the slack for a foul plagued Kosta Koufos. The gorgeous Grecian scored all 7 of his points in the opening half and had just 2 rebounds in the second after picking up his third foul at the 18:44 mark.
With Koufos on the bench, Purdue scored 4 straight points to take a 33-28 lead before Butler buried three triples in three minutes to spark a 12-3 run giving OSU a 40-36 advantage at 14:57.
Matty Painter's squad (why the hell does Musburger call him that?) reclaimed the lead moments later on a Chris Kramer dunk and showed their moxie holding on to the advantage until a 9-3 run capped by two free throws from Butler put OSU in front 64-62 with :37 left. Turner was also large in the crucial burst converting a natural three point play on a dribble drive before connecting on another short jumper in heavy traffic.
Out of a timeout, David Lighty was whistled for a questionable foul defending E'Twaun Moore's drive to the rack and Moore drilled both throws to force overtime setting up the emotional Buckeye victory.
The whistle was one of many ticky tack calls on both sides as the teams combined for 36 fouls leading to 59 charity offerings. The Buckeyes connected on 23/32 (72%) while Purdue shot 19/27 (70%).
The W moved OSU's record to 18-12 overall and 9-8 in conference play while ending Thad's career long 4 game losing streak.
Moore led Purdue with 16 points with Scott Martin adding 12 points and Robbie Hummel throwing in 12 points and 10 boards.
Surprisingly, the Buckeyes came out showing no ill effects from the odor of a 4 game losing streak. Hunter got things started with a nice drive and dunk and an offensive rebound that led to a free throw giving OSU a 5-0 lead.
Hunter’s activity drew praise from the great Steve Lavin as he drooled over the senior’s recent cut referring to it as a rally cap and an “O-Hawkâ€. All the while, the Buckeye zone forced the Boilers to miss their first seven shots before Moore hit a triple cutting the lead to 5-3 with 15:14 left in the half.
The lead would change hands six times from there, the last for OSU coming on Butler’s Butler’s first points of the half, two free throws, with :37 left to cap a 7-2 run and give the Bucks a 26-25 edge.
Holding for the last shot, the Boilers ran the clock down to 4 seconds before Turner fouled Martin as he drained a three from the corner leading to what felt like the 5th four point play OSU has surrendered this season and a 29-26 halftime deficit.
For the half, Koufos led OSU with 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks before picking up his 2nd foul and a spot on the bench with 4:46 left while fellow big O-Hawk added 7 points, 3 boards. Picking up Butler’s slack, Lighty and Diebler added 5 points apiece.
The zone held Purdue to 31% from the floor but six turnovers, two by Butler, hurt the cause.
Comments
Great game. You guys played very well and did what you needed to do. A tip of the cap to you!
Great to see them finally play with some heart down the stretch. This was the exact type of game that, for the past month and a half, they have found a way to lose. Butler finally played liked a leader and reminded us that his struggles this year have been an exception to a remarkable career.
Still a long way to go. Every game is a tournament game now, and I'm not going to get my hopes up, especially with a tough game on Sunday. However, this team has proven (at times) they have the talent to play with anyone. They just lacked the experience, and more importantly, the confidence to grind out wins against good teams. A tough win against a good Purdue team may have been the spark this team has needed all season...
It is amazing what happens when you don't rely on the three pointer and drive to the basket. Good things always happen when you drive consistently. It comes down to beating MSU twice in one week.
Big up to Butler for a great game. I've been hard on him recently, but "an exception to a remarkable career" is perfectly stated by Tyler. He let the game come to him which is much easier said than done. He is surrounded by inconsistent 18 year olds and it's difficult to be patient when the team is struggling like it has lately. Turner was huge and Wiggler filled in nicely with the exception of that ridiculous 3 pt attempt in OT. All 3 seniors played well and need to again on Sunday to get the dubyah.
With the large number of weak teams this year in the NCAA, I think tOSU only needs to beat MSU 1 of these 2 games to get an NCAA bid.....although both would lock it up.
Does anyone else find it odd that it took all year for the coaches to realize this fact:
Jamar, if working off the ball using screens after giving it up to start the offense can be a valuable weapon shooting. That works so much better than just dribbling around aimlessly until having to force a shot. I never would begin to think that I would have any credentialls to question Matta but come on...
Plus did I see him blow by someone to get the basket???? Where the hell has this been all year??
Tough all around game for these guys. Instead of just having all the mistakes to focus on, we MADE some breaks go our way.
Still think we have to get it done Sunday and the first game of the Big Eleven tourny to get thought of for the dance. Likely have to reach the final of the Big Eleven tourny to get in.
We dug our own hole but hopefully this is the start of the run we have been waiting for all year long. Even if we wind up in the NIT if we catch fire we may be playing for a while.
Maybe I'll lose some money on the Bucks in Vegas afterall?
Mark,
Chris pointed out to me that the second round of the NIT will be played when we are out in Vegas. However, i thought we said we weren't going to lose this year.
I still think we're NIT-bound, but if they win against m*ch*g*n State, and win a couple of games in the Big T(elev)en tournament, they might well get in. I think that's what it'll take, though.
Wow! All this negativity is killing me! Usually its the media that is down on tOSU, not the fans! Most of the media is saying that tOSU just has to win 1 of the next 2 against MSU (assuming we get the 5 seed in the Big10 Tourney).
If we get pushed down to the 6 seed (Minnesota would have to win out at Indiana and at Illinois) then we would need 2 wins. But, if we lose to Northwestern in the Big10 tourney, then we DO NOT deserve to make it to the NCAA tourney.
Wil, winning one of the next two against MSU would certainly help, but do you have a lot of confidence that will happen?