Ohio State vs. Purdue, Big Ten Quarterfinal: First Half Notebook

Halftime Score: Ohio State 49, Purdue 31

Ohio State fans are well-represented in Lucas Oil Stadium, and yes it's a neutral court, but this feels like a Purdue home game. The short trip for Boilermaker fans have made for a fun atmosphere.

Frankly, nobody on either team other than Kyle Young got off to a good start offensively right out of the gate ... and boy did Young explode out of the gates. He hit three 3-pointers in a 90-second span to get the Buckeyes off to a quick start. He added a fourth one right at the end of the half to give him a career-high 18 points by halftime.

Rough start for Justin Ahrens - he missed his first four shots, including three 3-balls. After playing the opening five minutes, he hasn't gotten back on the floor.

After Young hit a transition layup with 8:38 to play, Matt Painter called timeout to try and stop the Buckeye run. Young scored 13 of Ohio State's first 24 points.

Young also made a great defensive play about one minute later, tipping a long Purdue pass to the Buckeyes, which turned into a fast-break dunk for Duane Washington Jr.

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The Boilermakers are playing exactly the way I expected. They're hanging around, hitting a handful of shots here and there to keep the game reasonably close. It feels like they're waiting for a chance to explode offensively. But the Scarlet and Gray deserve some credit fort he way they've bottled up Trevion Williams so far. He grabbed six rebounds in his first seven minutes on the floor, but missed four of his first six shots.

The Buckeyes are sharing the ball very well. They have nine assists on their first 11 baskets. On top of that, they've been extremely efficient. Ohio State closed the first half with a ridiculous 1.531 points per possession, their best mark since playing Michigan on Feb. 21.

C.J. Walker also had a great stretch of play late in the first half. He's got six points at the half with two rebounds and five assists.

Freshman Meechie Johnson is getting some run in the first half. Musa Jallow and Justice Sueing each picked up two fouls and the true freshman Johnson has looked very comfortable in his few minutes of action.

Washington also hit three 3-pointers within two minutes late in the half to help extend the Buckeye lead to double figures before the break. He and Young combined to hit 7-of-9 from deep in the first half and scored 31 of the team's 49 points.

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