Game Eight: Ohio State 63, Purdue 52
March 10, 2007
Game Eight • March 10, 2007 • United Center • Chicago, Ill. The No. 1 seed is now 4-0 in Big Ten Tournament (BTT) history against No. 5 seeds after Ohio State's victory today. With the win, Ohio State improves to 29-3 overall, a program record for victories in a season. It is also the 16th consecutive win for the Buckeyes. OSU also holds a record of 12-3 in games played on March 10 and has captured five in a row. Ohio State defeated Purdue for the eighth time in a row and has won 14 of the last 15 meetings against the Boilermakers. Ohio State is 53-4 as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, with four of those victories coming over the Boilermakers in four attempts as the top-ranked squad. The Boilermakers are 2-14 against No. 1 ranked programs. With his 19 rebounds against Purdue, OSU's Greg Oden set a new career high, a new BTT single game record, a new Ohio State BTT single game mark and the highest rebounding total in a game for a Big Ten player during the 2006-07 season. His total of 27 through two games of the BTT ties for the sixth-best BTT single tournament mark, matching Roger Powell Jr. of Illinois in 2005. (Reggie Evans of Iowa holds the all time record with 51 in 2001). The Buckeyes pulled down a total of 49 rebounds in the game (21 offensive, 28 defensive), the second highest total in BTT history. The record of 51 was set by Illinois in a victory over Indiana on March 5, 1999. After recording four blocks in both today's victory over Purdue and in the quarterfinal win over Michigan, Oden has tied the BTT record for blocks in a tournament with eight overall. George Leach of Indiana set the mark in 2003 and it was matched by Erek Hansen of Iowa in 2006. Mike Conley Jr. has moved into second place on the Buckeyes' single season steals list. He picked up one steal in the win over Purdue for 73 on the year, trailing Curtis Wilson by just one. Wilson's record of 74 steals in a season was set in 1987.
Oden also recorded his 10th career double-double with 17 points and 19 rebounds. Ohio State's victory broke a four game Purdue winning streak. It was only the fourth loss in the last 12 games for the Boilermakers. Purdue's all time BTT record is now 4-10, including a 1-1 mark in semifinal round games. Purdue's Carl Landry scored 24 points against the Buckeyes on 9-of-16 shooting and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He tallied 20 points against Iowa in the quarterfinals. In the history of the BTT, seven different Purdue players have scored 20 points or more, but Landry is the only Boilermaker to accomplish the feat twice. The team that has led at halftime now holds a 6-1 record in the 2007 BTT and a 68-24 mark in the history of the event. Purdue out-shot Ohio State, 36.4 percent (20-of-55) to 35.9 percent (23-of-64) in the game, but Ohio State had a 20-4 run from 12:21 left in the second half to 2:25 remaining in play, turning a 43-40 deficit into a 60-47 lead. Defensively, Ohio State held Purdue to 2-of-12 shooting from the field during that 9:56 span.
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