Fire a coach, get a boost. A tale as old as time.

Playing its first game since firing Chris Holtmann, Ohio State played inspired against No. 2 Purdue on Sunday in Columbus.

Purdue (23-3, 12-3) was looking for its 10th win in a row and 2.5-game lead atop the Big Ten. Instead the Boilers fell 73-69 and were pulled back into a conference title chase with Illinois (19-6, 10-4).

Player ratings on a scale of 0 to 10.

STARTERS

∎ Zach Edey — He picked up his second foul with 4:30 left in the first half and the game changed from there. Ohio State went on an 11-2 run with him on the bench and took a five-point lead into halftime. He became the program's all-time leading rebounder (passing Joe Barry Carroll) in the first minute of the second half, then went down and scored off an easy hook. He finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and was a perfect 8-of-8 at the free-throw line. But he had six turnovers as the OSU bigs did a great job smothering him and having active hands to slap the ball loose from Edey. "That wasn't something that's really happened to him, all year," Matt Painter said afterward. Edey still had a team-best +/- of +10. Rating: 7.5

∎ Trey Kaufman-Renn — He had some nice early moments, with three of Purdue's first five baskets. But he failed to make an impact the rest of the first half, especially when Edey went to the bench. Usually when that happens, TKR gets more aggressive and attacks, but Ohio State's defense did a good job to make things difficult on the Boilermakers forward. He scored two more field goals in the second half, but had just three rebounds in 22 minutes. He did finish with 12 points, his first time in double figures since Jan. 5. Rating: 5.5

∎ Lance Jones — He drilled an open 3 in transition to give Purdue a 5-0 lead and then there was nothing the rest of the first half from Purdue's X-factor. He was 1-of-7 in the first half and saw Ethan Morton check in to try something else defensively on Bruce Thornton, who scored 14 points in the first half. Jones drilled two 3s in the second half, including one to tie the score at 65-65 with 1:30 left, but he was 3-for-11 from the field. Rating: 5.0

∎ Fletcher Loyer — He was also 1-for-7 from the field in the first half, hitting a baseline floater and that's all. He struggled defensively and to be honest, provided very little. In his 25 minutes, he had one rebound, no assists and committed four fouls. His poor entry pass to Edey turned into Jamison Battle's third 3 in a minute as Ohio State built a 12-point lead. Rating: 3.5

∎ Braden Smith — He opened the game with that trademark pull-up jumper and had three assists on Purdue's first five made field goals. He finished with 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds, but too many times there was too much dribbling late into shot clock with possessions either ending with a turnover or bad shot and transition the other way. Not all Smith's fault (he had three of Purdue's 14 turnovers), but he's usually able to get everyone in the right position. Credit the Buckeyes defense. Rating: 6.0

RESERVES

∎ Ethan Morton — He got more playing time to guard Bruce Thornton, who got hot early with Jones covering him. He didn't do much better, but Matt Painter continued to ride with him. Morton also came in to guard Jamison Battle after his three 3s in a minute. He was in solely for his defense. He played 18 minutes and didn't attempt a shot. Rating: 5.5

∎ Mason Gillis — After being the difference in the comeback against Minnesota, Gillis was really quiet in this one. He was uncharacteristically a non-factor behind the arc and finished with just two points and two rebounds in 16 minutes and was a team-worst -9 in +/-. Rating: 4.0

∎ Caleb Furst — Furst was active on the glass, and got some second-half run ahead of TKR and Gillis. He had five rebounds in 10 minutes (including four offensive). His five rebounds matched TKR and Gillis' total in their combined 38 minutes. Rating: 6.0

∎ Cam Heide — He finished an alley-oop layup in transition off a nice Smith pass, but that was his only contribution in his four minutes of PT. Rating: N/A

∎ Myles Colvin — Was on the floor for four first-half minutes and was a -8 in +/-. Rating: N/A

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball vs. Ohio State player ratings: Bad loss for Boilers