February 18, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State stunned No. 2 Purdue on Sunday in the Buckeyes' interim coach's debut, winning 73-69 a day after the NCAA Tournament selection committee picked the Boilermakers as the early favorite to get the No. 1 overall seed during March Madness.
Bruce Thornton scored 22 points and Jamison Battle added 19 to help Ohio State (15-11, 5-10 Big Ten) pull off the upset in Jake Diebler's first game at the helm.
Chris Holtmann was fired on Wednesday after several disappointing seasons. The struggling Buckeyes had lost nine of their last 11 games.
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According to ESPN Stats & Information, Diebler became the second head coach since 1996-97 to beat an AP top-10 team in his Division I coaching debut.
According to ESPN BET, Purdue (23-3, 12-3) had a 7½-point advantage.
Ohio State played with energy from the start, led 35-30 at halftime and was ahead by 12 six minutes into the second half.
As the Boilermakers closed out the stretch, it seemed only a matter of time before Zach Edey took over the game, but that didn't happen.
Lance Jones hit a 3-pointer for Purdue, tying the score at 65 with 1:39 left. But Battle hit a jumper and then made two free throws with 34 seconds left to extend Ohio State's lead to 69-65.
A simple dunk from Edey cut the deficit to two with 16 seconds left. The Boilermakers then fouled Thornton, who went to the line and made both foul throws, nearly sealing the game.
Edey finished the game with 22 points and 13 rebounds, the Purdue star's 58th career double-double.
Purdue had won nine straight and 16 of its last 17. The last defeat was on January 9th.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.