Analysis ($): 3-2-1 | Wrap Video | Stat Blast
Twenty-six seconds in, Ohio’s Antonio Cowart Jr. nailed a three-pointer to give his Bobcats a quick lead on Purdue in Mackey Arena.
All the Boilermakers did in response was score 27 of the next 31, separating themselves immediately en route to a 95-67 win in which they certainly looked like a team understanding that its path out of its early-season inconsistency starts on defense.
"To be honest, when our defense is going and we're getting stops and making progress on that side of the court, offense is going to come for each and every last one of us," guard Nojel Eastern said. "It makes the game a lot easier when we get stops and take the pressure off our offense, to where we don't have to rely just on our offense to win games."
Purdue dominated offensively, shooting 57 percent for the game and nearly scoring a hundred, but there was no mutual exclusivity between the two ends of the floor on this night.
"It started on the defensive end," senior Ryan Cline said, "getting them in tough, contested shots, the get going and finding our shooters in transition or get it to someone for an easy bucket."
The Boilermakers’ offensive dominance truly started with defense, with its ability to turn disruption into easy offense.
Ohio turned the ball over 14 times, a relatively modest number, especially on the road. But their impact was outsized.
Purdue scored 21 points off those turnovers, thriving in transition offense in a way it’s not lately. That’s been an uneven, at best, area for Purdue this season, but it was virtually flawless against the Bobcats, starting with that game-changing early run, in which Purdue outscored Ohio 27-4, and ran off those last 17 consecutively.
Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline made back-to-back threes en route to 30- and 19-point games, respectively. Cline then scored on a drive off a ball screen and Evan Boudreaux — in his first Purdue start — generated a turnover, ran the floor and drew a foul after an Edwards find. After an Ohio bucket, Cline made a three off a turnover, Matt Haarms scored in the post after an Aaron Wheeler offensive rebound, Wheeler hit a three and Edwards drove for an and-one, before freshman Eric Hunter capped the run with a three, then a three-point play in transition off another turnover.
"We did a better job rotating and keeping the ball in front of us," Coach Matt Painter said. "Once they started scoring, it was because we had some lapses in terms of those guys beating us off the dribble. But offensively, we were able to execute and get some good looks, but also get in transition and take what they give us.
"We struggle when we have predetermined thoughts. We're a much better team when we let things come to us, when we move the basketball and just take what the defense gives us."
When the run was over, Purdue led 27-7 with just under 12 minutes to play and the game looked decided.
And though there was some uneven-ness thereafter — Ohio would get within nine — it was. The Boilermakers led by as many as 31 in the second half.
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