Buckeyes Down Purdue, 79-71 – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 2, 2002%^$
%^$%^$%^$%^$Box Score|%^$Notes%^$%^$%^$%^$%^$%^$
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By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press Writer%^$
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – Boban Savovic scored 18 points and Terence Dials%^$had 16 as Ohio State beat Purdue 79-71 Wednesday night in the Big Ten opener%^$for both teams.%^$
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The Buckeyes (9-2, 1-0) followed up their 64 percent shooting performance%^$against UNC-Greensboro with a 61 percent effort Wednesday.%^$
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Zach Williams and Brian Brown each scored 14 for the Buckeyes. Dials made%^$all six of his shots, Williams made 6 of 8 and Savovic went 7-for-11.%^$
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Willie Deane scored 27 points and Darmetreis Kilgore had 18 for the%^$Boilermakers. The two combined to make 17 of their 30 shots.%^$
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Ohio State shot 70 percent in the first half to hold a 10-point halftime%^$lead. The Boilermakers (8-7, 0-1) remained close largely because they shot over%^$50 percent for only the third time this season.%^$
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Brown put Ohio State ahead 57-54 with a 3-pointer midway through the second%^$half. That started a 10-2 run that put the Buckeyes up 66-56.%^$
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Maynard Lewis converted a 3-point play and a Rodney Smith bucket pulled the%^$Boilermakers to 67-61 with 6:10 left. But they could never get a serious rally%^$going and never got closer than six.%^$
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Ohio State pushed the lead back to 10 but Deane and Kilgore each hit%^$3-pointers in the final minute to again make it a six-point game, but with only%^$38.5 seconds left. The Buckeyes iced the win with free throws.%^$
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Both teams started strong, seemingly making a basket on every possession.%^$The Buckeyes missed only three of their first 13 attempts and led by six.%^$
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Purdue climbed back in on the strength of its 3-point shooting. The%^$Boilermakers were 10-for-21 from 3-point range. Deane, who made 6 of 10, hit%^$one with 2:32 to go in the first half to tie the game at 30.%^$
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Savovic countered with a 3-pointer to start a 12-2 run that closed out the%^$half and gave the Buckeyes a 42-32 lead.%^$
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The Boilermakers made eight of their first nine shots in the second half to%^$start a 15-2 run. Kilgore hit a 3, then made the foul shot for a 47-46 edge 5%^$minutes into the half.%^$
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Both teams swapped leads before Brown put the Buckeyes ahead for good.
