Men’s Basketball Defeats No. 18 Purdue on the Road – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/6/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
February 6, 1999
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – Ohio State’s Michael Redd has an explanation for%^$his team’s recent success against Purdue.%^$
“We have a lot more weapons and more athletes,” said Redd, who scored a%^$game-high 20 points as No. 15 Ohio State beat No. 18 Purdue 80-69 Saturday%^$night to sweep the season series. “We have better conditioning and we’re%^$playing hard.”%^$
Before this season’s sweep, the Buckeyes (17-6, 7-3 Big Ten) had lost 10%^$consecutive games to the Boilermakers (16-7. 4-5).%^$
Ohio State led Purdue from start to finish as the Buckeyes turned a 49-34%^$halftime lead into a 65-41 advantage with 13:33 remaining. The Boilermakers%^$battled back twice to close the gap to eight points but could not get closer.%^$
“We came out with fresh legs and a lot of energy,” O’Brien said. “Our%^$aggressive defensive play was the reason we got out to a big lead. We guarded%^$hard the entire game and we’re not going to entirely control a team like this%^$for a whole game.%^$
“We have some athletic kids, but we have to play hard because we’re not%^$that gifted. We were very active early. One of our keys this year is our%^$depth.”%^$
Purdue trailed 75-67 with 3:06 remaining on Jaraan Cornell’s 3-pointer, but%^$Scoonie Penn hit a 3-pointer with 2:40 remaining to make it 78-67 to seal the%^$victory.%^$
Penn finished with 15 points and Jason Singleton added 14 points.%^$
“It was a total team effort,” Redd said. “It wasn’t just me and Scoonie.%^$The whole team showed up. The last two games we played (against Purdue) its%^$been our quickness. That’s the advantage we’ve had over a lot of teams this%^$year. We are a step quicker and that helped us tonight.”%^$
Cornell led the Boilermakers with 18 points, while Carson Cunningham had 15%^$points and Brian Cardinal finished with 12 points.%^$
The Boilermakers got as close as three points three different times in the%^$opening half, but Neshaun Coleman’s 3-point buzzer beater to end the first half%^$gave Ohio State 49-34 lead.%^$
“They really came out after us,” Purdue coach Gene Keady said. “(Ohio%^$State) got a lot of boards and their quickness really hurt us. In the second%^$half, our goal was to get things going and cut down the lead to 12 or 10 right%^$away. We just couldn’t get over the hump.%^$
“We are just going to have to fight through this to the next game. We%^$really have our work cut out for us.”
