Williams falls just short of triple-double as Purdue defeats Ohio State 67-60

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Trevion Williams scored 16 points and came close to a triple-double, leading Purdue past No. 20 Ohio State 67-60 on Wednesday night.

Williams had nine rebounds and a career-high eight assists in his second game coming off the bench. Eric Hunter Jr. added a season-best 15 points as Matt Painter beat a ranked team for the 50th time in 16 seasons as Boilermakers coach.

Purdue (5-2, 1-0 Big Ten) has won two straight and four of its last five.

Justice Sueing led the Buckeyes (5-1, 0-1) with 14 points and Duane Washington Jr. had 13.

It sure didn’t feel like a conference opener, though, with just a smattering of fans and little energy inside Mackey Arena. A litany of fouls sapped the game of rhythm and intensity, too.

But behind Williams and Hunter, the Boilermakers were just good enough in the second half when they methodically extended the lead to 59-45 courtesy of Hunter’s 3-pointer with 8:36 to play. Ohio State closed to 65-59 when Washington made a 3 with 2:50 left.

The Buckeyes couldn’t get any closer.

BIG PICTURE

Ohio State: Three of its first five wins were by margins of 10 or fewer points and at Purdue, the Buckeyes’ luck finally ran out. They shot 38% from the field and 25% from 3-point range while getting outrebounded 36-30 — never a winning formula.

Purdue: Bringing Williams off the bench has jump-started the all-conference forward. He had an impressive follow-up to his 30-point, 11-rebound game against Indiana State. If Williams continues playing this way, it could bode well for a young team still trying to find its footing.

STILL OUT

Ohio State played its second straight game without forward E.J. Liddell, who has a non-COVID-19 related illness. Liddell came into the night leading the balanced Buckeyes in scoring (15.5 points) and rebounding (7.5).

WHO’S COUNTING?

Ohio State and Purdue finally got to square off — 279 days after their originally scheduled game was canceled.

They were supposed to meet on the second day of the Big Ten Tournament in March. But just minutes before the first game of the day was scheduled to tip, conference officials announced they had scrapped the entire tournament because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

UP NEXT

Ohio State: Faces No. 22 North Carolina on Saturday in Cleveland.

Purdue: Makes its annual trip to Indianapolis, this time to take on Notre Dame.