Ohio State Defeats Penn State 83-64 At Rec Hall To Win Third Straight Conference Game

Ohio State (13-8, 5-5 Big Ten) used another all-around dominant performance to increase its winning streak to three games Thursday night with an 83-64 victory over Penn State (13-9, 3-8 Big Ten) at historic Rec Hall. 

Just three days after stifling Iowa’s fourth-ranked scoring offense, the Buckeyes held the Nittany Lions — who entered the game with the nation’s 19th scoring offense at 83.2 points per game — to its second-lowest scoring total of the season on 45.7 percent shooting. That defensive intensity once again translated to success in other areas, with OSU holding a 41-23 edge on the glass and boasting four different players with double figures in points, all of which were positive developments that allowed the Buckeyes to come away with another convincing Big Ten win. 

Ohio State picked up right where it left off three days ago against Iowa in the early going. It played efficiently on offense and disrupted Penn State’s 19th-best scoring offense in the nation on the other end to jump out to a 23-14 lead with 8:24 left in the half after a John Mobley Jr. three, his second of the game on four tries. 

The Nittany Lions created some momentum with a quick 7-2 run to trail 25-21, but a flagrant foul on PSU senior forward Zach Hicks allowed the Buckeyes to take back control with a 18-7 sequence to go up 43-28 with 1:08 remaining in the half after a Devin Royal layup. Nine of those points during the run came from the tandem of Micah Parrish and Mobley, who had 21 combined points in the half. 

But Penn State closed the half strong with five straight points, the final two coming on a thunderous tomahawk dunk by 7-0 junior forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser over the 7-1 Ivan Njegovan that put the score at 43-33 at the half.

Ohio State was dominant on the glass after one, holding a 23-12 rebound advantage over the Nittany Lions. 

Penn State continued to claw back after halftime by hitting two straight threes to open the period and trail 45-39 with 18:34 left, but the Buckeyes were undeterred. They relinquished just one field goal in the next 5:10 to go back up 56-45 with 12:22 left after two Mobley free throws.

The Nittany Lions continued to hang around in the ensuing minutes by getting to the free throw line, but Ohio State put the final nail in the coffin when it got back-to-back threes from Bruce Thornton and a pair of Njegovan free throws on three straight offensive possessions to take a commanding 67-50 lead with 9:28 left. 

Ohio State’s lead stayed within 14 to 17 until Thornton added a nifty stepback three — his fifth of the night — to put the Buckeyes up 18, 74-56 with just 6:35 remaining. After a Mobley floater put OSU up 20 with X:XX left, the rest of the game was window dressing as the Buckeyes cruised to their second-straight double-digit conference win. 

Ohio State was led in the win by Mobley, who scored 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting (3 of 8 from three) and added a game-high eight assists for the second straight game. Thornton added 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and 5-of-7 shooting from three, while Royal had 15 and a team-high eight rebounds. 

Penn State, which shot just 16 of 29 from the free-throw line (55.2 percent), was led by Konan Niederhauser with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while preseason All-Big Ten guard Ace Baldwin Jr. was limited to 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting. 

Ohio State will look to make it four in a row on Sunday afternoon when it travels to Champagne, Ill., to take on No. 18 Illinois at 1 p.m. (CBS).