Today was the E’Twaun Moore show.
No. 11 Purdue (22-5, 11-3) topped No. 2 Ohio State (25-2, 12-2) 76-63 in front of a full capacity crowd at Mackey Arena.
Late in the first half, Moore asserted himself on SportsCenter Top-10 plays. After playing ferocious team defense, Ryne Smith steal gets the steal and Moore is able to finish with an acrobatic layup—and the foul.
Coming in, the senior needed 11 points to become just the fifth Boilermaker all-time to score over 2,000 points. Moore accomplished that feet near halftime. He now inserted himself into Purdue’s all-time record books with Rick Mount, Joe Barry Carroll, Dave Schellhase, and Troy Lewis.
Moore scored final 13 points of half for Purdue, dominating the final 3:49.
Late in the game, the second-ranked Buckeyes didn’t give up without a fight. With three minutes to play, Ohio State used 6-0 run to come within four 65-61. But who else, E’Twaun Moore buried the dagger from the left elbow and Purdue never looked back. Moore finished with a career-high 38 points, half Purdue’s points.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Moore had never scored more than 19 points in his eight career games against Ohio State.
Ohio State coach That Matta recognized Purdue’s outstanding performance, “Purdue could have beaten anybody in the country today.” The Boilermakers played with a toughness that is necessary for a late season surge.
Purdue has beaten all 10 Big Ten teams in conference play. The nine teams that did that since 1997-98 all were conference champs.
There has been plenty of parody in conference play all year. It has basically been Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, six teams in the middle, and Iowa and Indiana bringing up the rear. These down to the wire games will make for an even more spectacular Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in three weeks.
The other big question that remains is who deserves the top spot in the country. The top four teams in last week’s poll all lost this weekend: Kansas, Ohio State, Texas, Pittsburgh.
Here’s a video of Moore’s thoughts following Purdue’s big win: