If there was any doubt heading into the evening about which team was the best in America, it was squashed unequivocally in Columbus by the end of the night as No. 1 Ohio State dominated No. 12 Purdue from start to finish in their game Tuesday at the Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes (21-0, 8-0) got double figure scoring from six players against the Boilermakers, led by William Buford, who finished with 19 points and four rebounds. Freshman Jared Sullinger followed with 17 points and seven boards.
JaJuan Johnson had another solid night for Purdue (17-4, 6-2) with 22 points and seven rebounds, but beyond him, there wasn't much to speak of. E'Twaun Moore finished in double figures with 16 points but was only 4-13 from the field. Terone Johnson contributed nine points off the bench, but no other Boilermaker had more than six points.
Ohio State was red hot from three land on the evening. The Buckeyes were a crushing 11-19 from beyond the arc. Buford was 5-6 from deep and Jon Diebler was 3-5. Even Sullinger, who typically carves his niche in the post, managed to hit a trey. The hot 3-point shooting translated to good shooting from the field overall as well, as the Buckyes outshot the Boilermakers 55%-38%.
The domination extended even further, however. Ohio State outrebounded Purdue 39-26 overall and 9-7 on the offensive glass. Diebler's eight rebounds were not only more than any one Boilermaker, but more than any combination of two beyond Johnson.
The only real sore points for Ohio State on the evening were free throws, where the team hit only 54%, and turnovers, where the Buckeyes trailed Purdue by a margin of 12-10.
Purdue will try to get back after it Saturday against No. 18 Minnesota back at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette. The Golden Gophers took down the Boilers in Minneapolis a few weeks ago, so taking them down would certainly be a fine way for Purdue to get some momentum going again in the conference schedule.
Ohio State travels to Evanston to face Northwestern on Saturday evening looking to run its record to 22-0. The Buckeyes are one of two remaining unbeatens in the nation and are 10 games from completing an undefeated regular season.