Another Big 10 game, another overtime win for No. 12 Purdue.
Courtney Moses scored 24 points, and Sam Ostarello had 22 points and 19 rebounds Monday night to help the Boilermakers beat Ohio State 82-75 in triple overtime.
Purdue (14-2, 3-0) has won all of its conference games in overtime. The Boilermakers won the first two, 67-66 at Illinois and 69-66 at Nebraska, but needed three extra periods this time to get past an Ohio State team playing without Tayler Hill, the conference's preseason player of the year.
''We can persevere through anything. It's unreal,'' Ostarello said. ''It shows how much confidence we have in everybody.''
Moses led a rally in the second overtime. With Ohio State leading 68-62 with less than 2 minutes to play, Moses and Ostarello scored to get Purdue within a basket, and Moses scored with 5 seconds to play to force the third extra period.
''We're put in these situations all the time in practice,'' Moses said of the Boilermakers' success in overtime.
''We make things happen in overtime. We're used to it,'' said KK Houser, who had eight points and 10 assists for Purdue.
In the third overtime, Drey Mingo, who finished with 17 points, scored to put Purdue ahead for good at 72-70 and after the teams traded baskets, Dee Dee Williams made a 3-pointer to make it 77-72.
That allowed Purdue to escape after not playing for nine days since the Nebraska win.
''We were a little out of sync. On offense we were pretty stale,'' said Purdue coach Sharon Versyp of her team's offense. ''For us it came down to defense.''
The Boilermakers are off to their best start since beginning the 2006-07 season at 14-2.
The Buckeyes (10-7, 0-4) are off to their worst Big 10 start. They almost pulled out a win without Hill, who was out with an illness. Hill is averaging 21.3 points this season, the best of any Big 10 player.
Ameryst Alston, who played all 55 minutes, had 24 points for the Buckeyes. Darryce Moore had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Raven Ferguson also had 16 points for Ohio State.
''It's tough to be 0-3 (entering Monday) in this league and with one of their best players being out. But they really came in and played a great game,'' Versyp said of the Buckeyes.
