Ohio State upsets No. 8 Purdue to bolster NCAA tourney hopes

Field Level Media|published: Sun 1st March, 16:23 2026

Mar 1, 2026; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Purdue Boilermakers center Oscar Cluff (45) drives to the basket as Ohio State Buckeyes center Ivan Njegovan (7) defends during the first half at Value City Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

John Mobley Jr. had 21 points to lead four Ohio State players in double digits as the Buckeyes upset No. 8 Purdue 82-74 in Columbus on Sunday.

Bruce Thornton had 20 points, Amare Bynum 14 and Devin Royal 12 for the Buckeyes, who had lost two straight.

Ohio State (18-11, 10-8 Big Ten) was ahead 67-51 before the Boilermakers pulled to within 69-63 but Bynum drilled a 3-pointer and Royal had a tip-in to make it 74-63 with 1:40 to play. Purdue got no closer than seven.

Braden Smith led Purdue (22-7, 12-6) with 20 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn had 17 of his 19 points in the second half before fouling out with 19 seconds left.

The Buckeyes were desperate for a signature win to boost their chances for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament with time running out. They improved to 2-7 against ranked foes and 2-10 vs. Quad 1 teams.

Ohio State also moved into an eighth-place tie in the conference with Iowa for the last double-bye into the Big Ten tourney with two games left.

Meanwhile, Purdue missed a chance to tie Illinois for fourth, which earns a triple-bye.

Smith had seven assists and moved him past Long Island University Brooklyn's Jason Brickman (1,007 from 2010-14) for fourth on the NCAA all-time list. Next is the 1,030 for North Carolina's Ed Cota (1996-2000).

The Buckeyes overcame an early seven-point deficit to take a 36-31 halftime lead with Mobley scoring 11 and Bynum 10. Thornton, Ohio State's scoring leader (20.0), bounced back from a poor outing in the 74-57 loss to Iowa on Wednesday when he was scoreless the first 27 minutes.

He was 3 of 4 from the floor and had seven points in the first 20 minutes.

Smith scored 11in the first half for Purdue, which made 1 of 2 foul shots while the Buckeyes were 8 of 11.

The Boilermakers led 16-9 before the Buckeyes tied it at 19 then took the lead on a jumper by Mobley at the 7:39 mark and didn't trail the rest of the way.

Ohio State center Christoph Tilly returned after missing a game because of an ankle injury. He had seven points and five rebounds.

--Field Level Media

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