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The Big Ten had two more teams tipping off their seasons on Wednesday night. Purdue opened up against Green Bay and Ohio State faced a tough Cincinnati team. Both Big Ten teams were able to grab wins to open their season at 1-0.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
Game of the Day:
-No. 18 Ohio State Buckeyes 64, Cincinnati Bearcats 56
Things didn’t look good for the Buckeyes early in this one as the team’s offense struggled to get things going. If it weren’t for Kyle Young getting some tough buckets early on, Ohio State might have been run off the court in the opening half. However, the team started to figure things out after halftime and were eventually able to take control.
Young was the star of the night with 14 points and 13 rebounds, but true freshman DJ Carton also made some impressive plays in the second half. Many are hoping he can elevate the team’s offense as the season continues. Carton finished with nine points and five rebounds in just 25 minutes.
There’s little debating that this is a significant win for Ohio State moving forward. Cincinnati was a top 30 team on KenPom entering the game and certainly project to be in the NCAA Tournament at season’s end. Getting a win like this so early should really help the team on Selection Sunday.
Ohio State will get a brief reprieve before getting back in action on Sunday at home against UMass Lowell. The Buckeyes will then face Villanova at home after that.
The Rest:
-No. 23 Purdue Boilermakers 79, Green Bay Phoenix 57
This game might not have looked particularly great on paper, but it did mark the opening of Purdue’s season and a tuneup game before the Boilermakers faced some much tougher opponents. Things were relatively close for the first 10 minutes, but Purdue pulled away thereafter thanks to 26 points from Jahaad Proctor and 16 points from Matt Haarms. Things were never competitive in the second half.
There aren’t many things to take away from this game, but Purdue’s new look lineup certainly looked intriguing. And that was with Nojel Eastern having a quiet night with just 24 minutes and six points. It will be interesting to see how Eastern performs going forward as he tries to get back on track after an offseason injury. Purdue will now prepare for a matchup against a solid Texas team at home on Saturday.