How did Jake Diebler's talk with Zed Key help spark the Ohio State senior against Purdue?
Purdue had drawn up its play. Ohio State, flexing some muscles not seen in some time, had taken its largest lead of the game when Jamison Battle’s second 3-pointer in the span of 33 seconds. Trailing 47-38, coach Matt Painter had called timeout and gone over the plan.
It didn’t quite work, because Zed Key had an idea what was coming. With the shot clock winding and the Boilermakers unable to get an easy look at the bucket, they swung the ball to Fletcher Loyer at the top of the circle, where he did what almost always works: he fed it toward the rim and a waiting human cheat code in Zach Edey.
This time, the ball never got there. Anticipating the play as Purdue’s possession wound down, the Ohio State center easily stepped into the paint, nabbed the ball and sparked a break the other way. Battle finished it with another 3, the lead was 12 points with 14:20 to play and the Buckeyes were on their way to a stunning, 73-69 win against the No. 2 Boilermakers.
It was arguably the signature play in Key’s most overall impactful game of the year. The stat line of 9 points, one rebound, one assist and a career-high five steals is one thing, but the way Key played against the Boilermakers might be as important as what came of it.
“As an individual, I just told myself to go out there and play free and don’t let any distractions get to you,” he said Wednesday.
That’s been harder and harder to do this year for Ohio State’s longest-tenured player. In a season as sophomore center Felix Okpara’s backup, Key’s role and impact have steadily diminished as the losses have piled up. During his last two seasons as a starter, Key’s lone scoreless game was when he was forced to leave last year’s Jan. 5 loss to Purdue with a left shoulder injury that eventually required season-ending surgery.
Five days before playing Purdue, Key was scoreless in 13 minutes of a 62-54 loss at No. 20 Wisconsin. It was his second scoreless outing in Ohio State’s last four games, and it was also the final game with Chris Holtmann as coach. After being named interim coach in Holtmann’s place, former associate head coach Jake Diebler had individual player meetings to outline responsibilities and goals for the rest of the season.
For the Buckeyes to make something with what remains in 2023-24, Diebler said, they would need more from Key.
“We had a conversation like, ‘Look, we need you to help us turn this around. I believe in you and believe in the team that we’re a really good team and still have a lot of life left in us,’ ” Key said Diebler told him. “I took that to heart and said, ‘Look, the season’s not over. People counted us out. Let’s show them.’ ”
The game served as a bit of personal redemption for Key, who had been averaging 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game as Ohio State opened the year 10-3 before playing Purdue. Although he battled through the injury and gutted out 11 more games, the restrictive brace on his shoulder limited his effectiveness and the pain in the shoulder would eventually require shutting things down with five games left in the season.
Sunday, he looked like himself again, raising the roof after dunks and even sinking a 3-pointer.
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“First and foremost, if he plays as hard as he did in that game, good things are going to happen for him personally and our team will play well,” Diebler said. “His mindset was improved. We talked about that going into the game and I’m proud of him following through on that.”
Now he has to do it with more consistency. Ohio State goes to Minnesota on Thursday night in search of its first road win since Jan. 1, 2023, and its 16-game road losing streak is tied for the longest in program history. In the first meeting between these teams this year, Golden Gophers center Dawson Garcia scored 36 points, 28 of which came during the second half. At times, he was unguardable as Key finished with 4 points, four turnovers and three rebounds in 15 minutes.
Last week was an emotional one for the Buckeyes. Now Key said they have to channel it in the correct way.
“With everything that’s going on, it was a tough week for us,” he said. “Just putting my head down and putting all the frustrations out there on the court. I just wanted to get the ‘W.’ ”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Can Zed Key keep it rolling for Ohio State after bounce-back game?
