Jake Diebler is 2-0 against Matt Painter, and if Ohio State wants to make the NCAA Tournament, the Buckeyes will need to improve the mark to 3-0 on Sunday. 

On Sunday afternoon inside the Schottenstein Center, the Buckeyes face their most important game of the year against the Purdue Boilermakers. If Ohio State wants to hear its name called on Selection Sunday, this is the kind of game it must win. 

The building will be dressed in white to create a true home-court edge, and it needs to feel like one. Jake Diebler’s Buckeyes have hovered on the NCAA Tournament bubble for the better part of a month, walking a tightrope with little room to stumble. Now they enter Sunday coming off back-to-back losses for the first time all season, including a game at Iowa that flipped on its head after a strong start from short-handed Ohio State.

Health has been the quiet undercurrent of this entire season. For stretches, the Buckeyes have looked like a team capable of playing with anyone in the league. At other moments, they have looked like a group still searching for continuity because key pieces have not consistently shared the floor. The timing could not be more urgent as they attempt to get whole for the first time all year. 

Purdue sits fourth in the Big Ten at 22-6, even after dropping two of its last three games, including a loss to Michigan State on Thursday. The Boilermakers arrive motivated and guided by veteran head coach Matt Painter, looking to get back on track. Yet there is an interesting wrinkle in this matchup: Jake Diebler is 2-0 against Painter and Purdue in his young head coaching career, including last season’s emotional 16-point road comeback in West Lafayette.

Ohio State’s resume needs a jolt, and a win over Purdue would add a Quad 1 victory and change the tone of the final stretch. If the Buckeyes can build momentum, close the regular season 3-0, and then add a win or two in the Big Ten tournament, the outlook shifts toward an NCAA Tournament berth and an opportunity to make a run. 

Bruce Thornton is at the center of it all for the Buckeyes. He continues to carry this program steadily as he is 50 points away from passing Dennis Hopson as Ohio State’s all-time leading scorer. Thornton also needs just 18 rebounds to become only the second player in Big Ten history to reach 2,000 points, 500 assists, and 500 rebounds. But there is one line missing from Thornton’s resume that he wants more than any milestone: an NCAA tournament appearance.

Alongside him, John Mobley Jr. is healthy again. He leads the Big Ten in three-point shooting, and Diebler said his hand responded well after the last game with no lingering concern. When Mobley stretches the floor, the geometry of Ohio State’s offense opens. 

Christoph Tilly remains questionable, and Diebler did not offer clarity during his press conference Saturday afternoon. But he did reiterate something he has emphasized for weeks: this team believes its best basketball is in front of it. Even without being fully healthy for much of the season, Ohio State insists it can operate cleanly, control what it can control, and peak at the right time.

If the Buckeyes are going to dance, it starts with protecting home floor and matching Purdue’s physicality. Ohio State cannot let Purdue’s veteran backcourt dictate tempo either. Diebler’s group has to set the defensive tone and then shoot well from the perimeter on the offensive side. 

Tip-off between Ohio State and No. 8 Purdue is set for 1:30 p.m. on CBS.