Jan 2, 2002
Purdue-Ohio State Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press Writer
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.
The Buckeyes (9-2, 1-0) followed up their 64 percent shooting performance against UNC-Greensboro with a 61 percent effort Wednesday.
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.
Willie Deane scored 27 points and Darmetreis Kilgore had 18 for the Boilermakers. The two combined to make 17 of their 30 shots.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Both teams swapped leads before Brown put the Buckeyes ahead for good.