Purdue center Zach Edey uses broom get stuck ball off backboard

There are no kids with mops underneath the baskets at the Big Ten Tournament, and we’ve seen a couple players this Championship Week out there scrubbing the hardwood themselves after a sweaty player hits the deck.

But this one is new in the COVID-19 world of conference tournament basketball. After the game ball gets stuck in the morass of shot clock, backboard, and Big Ten Network camera equipment, there’s only one man you can call: A Canadian averaging 8.9 points 4.5 rebounds a game for the Purdue Boilermakers.

And he won’t have a bigger rebound today than this:

By rule, the ball that is used to start the game has to be the same ball that is used to end the game. So you can’t even get one off the warmup rack when this happens, as both teams agree the Spalding that starts the game can’t be changed. We might have needed a ladder that would be used to cut down the nets without Ebey’s excellent work here.

Ohio State and Purdue are about to tip-off overtime in a 72-72 contest. But only thanks to the benevolence of the Boilermakers big man.