Kam Williams hit a pair of free throws in the finals seconds to give the Ohio State Buckeyes some breathing room en route to their 65-61 win over the Purdue Boilermakers in Big Ten Conference play at Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes (21-8, 10-6 Big Ten) were paced by D'Angelo Russell who tallied a game-high 28 points, adding a team-best seven rebounds, while Sam Thompson tacked in 14 points for an OSU squad that has won two in a row after losing back-to-back outings.
The Boilermakers (19-10, 11-5) were led by AJ Hammons with 16 points, to go along with six rebounds and three blocked shots, while Rapheal Davis and Dakota Mathias added 15 and 10 points, respectively, as the squad had a four- game win streak come to an end.
Ohio State led by four points about five minutes into the contest, but the team shot a mere 26.9 percent from the floor in the first half, including 2- of-10 behind the 3-point line, en route to a 35-23 deficit at the break. Purdue made good on 6-of-11 shots on the perimeter through the first 20 minutes of action.
In the second half the Buckeyes jumped to 54.5 percent accuracy from the field and also connected on 18-of-24 at the free-throw line in order to escape with the four-point triumph.
In a game that featured five ties and 10 lead changes, OSU pulled off the win by outscoring the Boilermakers at the charity stripe, 25-7.
[SportsNetwork.com]
