Big Ten Daily (Feb. 19): Jake Diebler Talks Nerves, Emotions in Ohio State's Upset of Purdue

Ohio State interim coach Jake Diebler opened up about his nerves and emotions after the Buckeyes' upset win over No. 2 Purdue on Sunday in a Big Ten showdown.

When Ohio State fired Chris Holtmann, interim coach Jake Diebler faced a tall task — literally and figuratively. His first assignment in his new role? Find a way to slow down 7-foot-4 reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey and No. 2 Purdue.

The Buckeyes aced the test, defeating the Boilermakers 73-69 in Columbus. Diebler starts his run at Ohio State with a 1-0 record, pulling off one of the bigger upsets in college basketball this season.

Ohio State got great production from Bruce Thornton and Jamison Battle, combining for 41 points. The bench also came up big, outscoring Purdue's reserves 26-4.

After Sunday's stunning upset, Diebler was quick to admit that he was nervous heading into his first game as a head coach. 

"I'm tired right now, I feel like I coached really — probably too hard in a couple instances," Diebler said. "One of the guys on our staff comes up to me and is like, 'Are you OK?' I'm like, 'Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine.' He said, 'Well you look a little flushed.'

"Well, I'm hot and I've been coaching hard. But, I was nervous going into this game. Just full transparency, I was nervous, absolutely."

Diebler has been on a college sideline for over a decade, dating back to 2009 when he was a student assistant at Valparaiso on Homer Drew's staff. He joined Chris Holtmann's staff at Ohio State 2019.

Making the transition from assistant to interim coach isn't an easy one — especially in the middle of a season. But Diebler figured out a way to slay the Big Ten's top team, and a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

You can understand why he was emotional after Sunday's incredible victory.

"I don't wanna get emotional right now," Diebler said. "I had to take a moment just to thank God there after the game. That made me emotional. Then going through the line, I was fighting it, I was fighting it. 

"Then my wife made it to the court and then my parents — it was trouble after that."

Howard passionate about staying at Michigan

Although this has been one of the uglier seasons for Michigan basketball in recent memory, Juwan Howard has no plans of stepping away. He provided a passionate response to a question about whether or not he wants to remain in Ann Arbor next season.

The question came after a 73-63 loss to Michigan State on Saturday. The Wolverines are now 8-18 on the season with a 3-12 mark in Big Ten play.

“Oh, no. Never. I am bought in,” Howard said. “I love this place and I love our players and I never ran or I never quit in my life. That’s a good question because that let me know that you really don’t know me.

“If you get to know me a little bit better and know my story, every time and everywhere I’ve been, I’ve always faced the noise, and I roll up my sleeves and find solutions. And we’re going to be solution-based as we finish the season going on to … next season is not here. We’re going to finish this season off strong.”

Three of Michigan's remaining five games are on the road. The Wolverines play Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers, Ohio State and Nebraska to close the year.

Hawkins Trolls Purdue

Illinois star Coleman Hawkins has made his goals quite clear this season. He wants to win a Big Ten regular season title — and take down Purdue in the process.

Following Purdue's loss to Ohio State in Columbus, Hawkins fired off a post on X trolling the Boilermakers. It got plenty of attention on the social media platform.

With Illinois securing an 85-80 win over Maryland on Saturday, the Fighting Illini have pulled within 1.5 games of Purdue in the Big Ten standings. The two teams still have a head-to-head matchup in Champaign on March 5.

The Boilermakers won the first meeting 83-78 in West Lafayette. 

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