COLUMBUS, Ohio – William Buford scored a career-high 29 points and capped his night with a pivotal dunk in the final minute to power No. 3 Ohio State past hot-shooting Purdue 87-84 on Tuesday night.

The win was Ohio State’s 39th in a row at home – since losing to Purdue two years ago at Value City Arena.

Buford scored 21 points in the second half to carry the Buckeyes (21-3, 9-2 Big Ten) while All-America Jared Sullinger and point guard Aaron Craft were on the bench with foul trouble. He scored seven straight points for Ohio State as it took the lead for good, then had a dunk with 39 seconds left that sealed it.

D.J. Byrd, averaging 6.5 points per game, had a career-best 24 for the Boilermakers (15-9, 5-6), while Kelsey Barlow and Lewis Jackson had 14 each and Robbie Hummel added 13.