Ohio State led for nearly the entire game, building a lead as large as 18 in the second half before turnovers and hot Nittany Lion shooting allowed Penn State to come away with the upset, stopping the Buckeye winning streak at 7 and defeating the road Buckeyes 83-80. Penn State hit 8 of 15 from beyond the arc in the second half and utilized 16 Ohio State turnovers to overcome the large second half deficit and sent Ohio State down to their second loss of the year. The loss dropped Ohio State to 8-2 and 1-1 in conference play, while Penn State improved to 5-5 and 1-1 in the Big Ten and in the process halted their five game losing streak. Bruce Thornton led Ohio State with 17, while Jamison Battle added 13 and Zed Key had his second straight double-double with 12 and 11. Roddy Gayle chipped in 11 in the loss. Penn State put 5 in doubles led by Kanye Clary’s 19.

It was a quick start for the Buckeyes as Bruce Thornton opened the scoring with a triple. On their next possession, Roddy Gayle and Felix Okpara executed a pick and roll leading to an Okpara bucket and the Buckeyes were off to a 5-0 lead. After a Penn State hoop, excellent perimeter passing led to a Jamison Battle wide open three from the top to extend the lead. Penn State scored on their end, but quickly the other way, Evan Mahaffey got into the lane and kicked to Battle in the right corner for another three. An old-fashioned three point play for Penn State answered, but Mahaffey, playing through a chorus of boos from his former school’s fans, spun into the paint and hit a short jumper. Penn State scored with a jumper on their end and at the first media timeout, Ohio State led 13-9. Okpara went to the stripe out of the timeout and split the pair to put the Buckeyes up 5 but the Lions went on a 5-0 run to tie the score. The Buckeyes went back on top when Zed Key took a Dale Bonner pass deep in the post and scored at the rim but Three Lion free throws put Penn State on top for the first time. Key answered with an explosive drop step on the left block and scored at the rim to put the Buckeyes back in front. A Scotty Middleton triple was followed by a Penn State three, but Middleton went back to work and hit a mid range jumper and at the under 12, Ohio State led 23-20. Zed Key went to the stripe out of the timeout and split the pair to put the Buckeyes up 4. Thornton lobbed to Okpara for a flush to extend the lead and after a Lion deuce, Battle answered with a 15 footer to keep the Ohio State lead at 6. The Buckeyes played add on when Thornton drove down the right side of the lane and scored with a scoop through contact to take the game to the 8 minute media timeout and Ohio State leading Penn State 30-22. Thornton went to the stripe out of the timeout and buried the free throw to complete the old-fashioned three point play. A Buckeye turnover led to an uncontested layup for Penn State but inside out action on the other end led to a Middleton triple to put the Buckeyes up 10. The Lions split a pair of free throws and facing a zone, the Buckeyes turned it over to Penn State led to a transition bucket. The Buckeyes got back on the board when Dale Bonner got to the rim along the left side and scored off the window. The Lions scored on the ensuing possession and a foul on the other end sent Key back to the stripe where he split the pair and at the under 4 media timeout, Ohio State led 37-29. The Buckeye lead increased when Gayle drilled a long, stand still three from the left wing and Mahaffey split a pair of free throws, but neither team could find the bucket the rest of the way as Ohio State took a 41-29 lead to the locker room. The Buckeyes shot it at a 54% clip in the first half, knocking down 6 of 14 three attempts, while holding the Lions to just 34% and 2 of 9 from downtown. Ohio State owned the glass, out rebounding Penn State 26-12 but 9 turnovers compared to just 3 for Penn State kept the Nittany Lions in the game after 20 minutes. The Buckeyes assisted on 11 of 15 made buckets as they continue to be very efficient in the half court but the turnovers and foul trouble for both Thornton and Gayle had Penn State hanging around at the break. Scotty Middleton and Jamison Battle led Ohio State with 8 each , while Zed Key added 6 points and 7 rebounds. Penn State’s Leo O’Boyle led all scorers with 9. 

Thornton opened the second half scoring, splitting a pair of free throws and drilling a three to extend the lead to 16. After the Lions knocked down a triple to stop a 9-0 Buckeye run that went back to the end of the first half, Battle drilled a jumper at the stripe. A Penn State free throw and a short jumper cut into the lead but facing a full court press, the Buckeyes quickly broke it into the front court and Battle lobbed to Felix Okpara for a dunk. Following a Penn State turnover, Gayle found the bottom from the left wing for three and Penn State called timeout with 16:21 left in the game and Ohio State leading 52-35. Penn State used an offensive rebound and converted for two, but the Buckeyes utilized their own offensive rebound on the very next possession which led to a Battle three. A Penn State two on their next possession cut into the Buckeye lead which sat at 55-39 at the under 16 media timeout and 14:48 on the game clock. Five quick Lion points trimmed the lead to 11 but a pretty bounce pass from Mahaffey to Key for two stopped the run. Penn State scored quickly the other way, but two Key free throws dropped to answer. A Penn State three got the home crowd to their feet as the Lions had trimmed the lead to 10 and after a Buckeye turnover, the under 12 minute media timeout was called with the Buckeye lead trimmed to 59-49. Penn State carved the lead to 8 with a pull up jumper, but a Thornton triple stopped the momentum and quieted the crowd. Battle found Key for a dunk on a backdoor cut, but a Penn State three trimmed the lead back to 10. After an empty Buckeye possession, a pair of second chance opportunities led to a Lion bucket at the rim to cut the lead back to single digits. A Penn State triple cut the lead to 5 and Chris Holtmann called a timeout with Ohio State getting loose with the basketball as Penn State had grabbed all the momentum and with 7:57 left to play the once 18 point Ohio State bulge was cut to just 64-59. The lead was cut to just 2 when another Lion triple dropped, but Middleton split a pair of free throws to stop the 8-0 Lion run. The Lions seemingly couldn’t miss, answering with a jumper, but Gayle drilled a three from the right corner to quiet the crowd. A Lion bucket was followed by a Buckeye turnover and a foul stopped the break and both free throws were missed. A pair of Thornton free throws dropped after multiple offensive rebounds created extra opportunities in a game that was intensifying by the minute. A Penn State turnover and foul put Roddy Gayle on the stripe and he knocked down the pair to put the Buckeyes back up 6. An old-fashioned three point play for the Lions trimmed the lead back to 3 and at the final media timeout and with 3:34 left to play, Ohio State was clinging to a 72-69 lead. A Penn State jumper out of the timeout trimmed the lead to one but Mahaffey drove to the rim and flushed it to answer. A Lion triple tied the game with 2 ½ to go and after an Ohio State turnover, Penn State called a timeout with just under 2 to go. After a defensive stop, Okpara grabbed a big offensive rebound and scored and the Buckeyes took a timeout with 1:08 to play leading 76-74. The Lions re-tied the score with a runner in the paint and after an offensive foul gave the ball back to Penn State, the Nits took their first lead since midway through the first half with a triple from the top. A foul on the other end sent Thornton to the stripe where he buried both to cut the deficit to 1 with 29 seconds to go. A quick foul put Penn State on the line where they split the pair, but Battle’s three point attempt from the left corner banged off target and a foul put Penn State on the stripe and both dropped to seal the upset. Bonner scored on the other end, banking in an off-balance shot at the rim as he was fouled. The free throw was missed and Penn State corralled the rebound and the Buckeyes fouled but with just 1.4 seconds remaining. The free throws were split and a ¾ court shot at the horn by Thornton was off target as the game ended. 

That one will haunt Ohio State moving forward. While there’s a lot more basketball to play, they cannot let an 18 point second half lead get away. If they want to be a contender, it’s one they must find a way to win even when Penn State made their run. Penn State deserves a lot of credit and it’s incredibly difficult to win on the road in the Big Ten, but nobody will confuse the Nittany Lions for a top tier conference team and if Ohio State wants to be in the conference race until the end, they absolutely should not be losing to the conference bottom feeders, regardless of venue. When Ohio State saw their lead carved down to single digits, they sped up offensively and it turned into empty possessions and turnovers and the Lions to their credit took advantage and seemingly did not miss in the latter half of the final 20 minutes. Penn State controlled the glass in the latter part of the second half, creating extra opportunities and guys who do not typically shoot it well, knocked down their shots. Despite all of that, they still had an opportunity to win it late, but when Battle’s open jumper clanged off target, that was the ballgame. While it shouldn’t have come to that, they clearly had moments of good play building the lead, but ultimately they could not close it out. Hopefully they can forget about that one and move on.  They will get some much needed rest after playing 3 games in 7 days, hitting the floor again next Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta. 

The Buckeyes will tip it up again next Saturday afternoon. This year, the CBS Sports Classic will take place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The Buckeyes will face UCLA in game 1 at 3:30 PM with North Carolina and Kentucky playing the nightcap. Both games will be aired on CBS.

-Jason Harris