Breakdown: Purdue's win over No. 20 Ohio State

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There were moments Wednesday night in Mackey Arena, a bunch of them where, if things were normal, the building and its 14,000-plus inhabitants would have erupted.

There were Purdue runs against 20th-ranked Ohio State on this evening, the Big Ten opener for both teams, and there were key defensive stops and loose balls dove for, all the things that would normally provide the Boilermakers their traditional wind behind their sales — their home crowd.

Tonight, as strange as it was, Purdue made do without, beating the Buckeyes 67-60, a typical Big Ten game played in an atypical setting: Emptiness.

Coaches all across the country — and certainly Purdue's — have preached the Importance of teams being able to generate their own energy.

"I talked to our guys before the game," Painter said, "and told them, 'We've got to create our own energy, but you've got to create your energy through positive play, you know, you got to do your job and you've got to make plays and I thought we did that tonight.

"We had guys who were around the basketball. You've got to make some shots, make some plays and do something to build off that energy, because it's hard to have energy when you're struggling."

Purdue made all those plays, fueled by both Its older players and a few of its younger ones.

Eric Hunter is the Boilermakers' "energy guy" per teammate Trevion Williams. He brought It with both his words and his play on Wednesday night. After a turnover-riddled start, Hunter finished with 15 points, giving Purdue the sort of strong guard play it needed in games like this one last season.

Hunter scored seven straight for Purdue during the game's pivotal stretch, a 10-2 run that took a Boilermaker lead that had been cut down to four with 10-and-a-half minutes left to just four.

Hunter starred during that stretch.

Williams, his classmate, starred the whole game.

When Ohio State double-teamed him in the post, he shredded them in the first half with his passing, en route to a career-best eight assists, to go along with 16 points and nine rebounds. When the Buckeyes stopped doubling after halftime scored three buckets In the first four minutes of the half to buoy Purdue.

Williams would have preferred assists on points, but happily accepted both.

"I couldn't care less about scoring," Williams joked, when asked If he takes more satisfaction from points or assists. "I can score when I need to, but getting my teammates involved just makes me happy overall."

Brandon Newman, who hadn't made a shot In two of the last three games and didn't even take one against Indiana State last time out, came up big for Purdue in his first-ever Big Ten game.

He scored 10 points, and many of them were timely, first a three-pointer with around 14 minutes left to halt a Buckeye run, and then a runner with 1:47 to play after the Buckeyes had gotten within just six points — 65-59.

Newman was 4-of-6 from the floor and contributed seven rebounds as Purdue outrebounded Ohio State.

Jaden Ivey was not only playing his first Big Ten game, but playing his first game since the opener against Liberty, after which he was sidelined by a stress reaction in his foot.

He came out eager — perhaps too eager – but loomed large for the Boilermakers during an 8-0 run late in the first half. His back-to-back electric finishes In transition would have been another of those moments where Mackey Arena would have lost its collective mind.

It was a thrill for Ivey, to be back, to be playing a Big Ten game, and to be playing in front of his mother, Notre Dame women's basketball coach Niele Ivey, who was able to attend.

"When I first set foot on the floor, when we ran out of the tunnel, I just felt adrenaline," Ivey said. "It felt great. I've been slowly progressing back and I was just happy to be back out there."

Purdue's been up and down defensively this season, to put it nicely. Stopping the dribble has been a real concern, for one thing.

Tonight, though, the Boilermakers laid down a gauntlet of sorts with their effort as much as anything, the first few possessions of this game being another of those moments Mackey Arena as it's well know would have appreciated.

"It was probably 70 percent our effort and 30 percent our preparation," Hunter said of the defensive effort. "We always have good scouting reports but as (Painter) says, 'None of this matters if we don't play hard.'"

Purdue wasn't perfect on defense against a short-handed Ohio State team — leading scorer E.J. Liddell is ill — but it was very good, holding Ohio State to 38-percent shooting and forcing 13 turnovers, absolving the Boilermakers of their own continued turnover problems, 16 of them tonight.

"The cat's out of the bag now," Williams said. "We know we can compete against a high-level team (defensively). We've just got to keep it going."

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