With Notre Dame and Miami continuing to slip up this season, The Ohio State Buckeyes needed a quality win badly. With #12/13 Purdue coming to town sitting at 17-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference, the Bucks had the perfect opportunity to get a big win for the March Madness resume and took full advantage of it, outscoring the Boilermakers 16-8 in overtime en route to an 80-72 win at Value City Arena tonight.

Evan Turner continued his stellar play, scoring 26 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists, as OSU rolled to it’s third straight win, improving their record to 16-5 (6-4). William Buford played the roll of Robin to Turner’s Batman, scoring 22 points and stepping up when the Bucks needed him the most in the second half. Fellow frosh BJ Mullens was also a big contributor tonight, scoring 17 points and grabbing 8 rebounds in the victory.

The Buckeyes were up by five points with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, but sloppy play and poor defense let Purdue tie the game up at 64-64. Evan Turner turned the ball over with 29.4 seconds remaining, giving Purdue the last shot, which they could not convert, sending the game into overtime. OSU came out and fell behind on a Keaton Grant three-pointer, but Jon Diebler, who had 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists, answered with a three of his own to give the Buckeyes some momentum back at the start of the extra period. From there it was all Buckeyes as Dallas Lauderdale lead a tenacious defense that held Purdue to 46.4% shooting from the field and 28.6% shooting from three-point range.

The win was big for the Bucks, who are trying to climb the ladder to the top of the Big Ten and added a great win to their tournament resume. OSU takes on Minnesota at home on Saturday (8 P.M.) in another tough conference game that could add even more credibility to the Scarlet and Gray’s season thus far. I have a good feeling about Saturday and think these last two weeks may catapult OSU into a top three finish in the conference.

Enjoy the win while you can and get ready for Saturday. Have a good night and GO BUCKS!

photo AP/Terry Gilliam