Ohio State Surges Past Nittany Lions in Second Half Slugfest
Penn State is not traditionally a great basketball program. But for whatever reason, playing the Nittany Lions the last few years feels more like a root canal than spending a day at Disney World.
In perhaps one of the most streaky offensive games the Buckeyes have played in all season, Ohio State came back from an 8-point deficit early in the second half and pulled out a 92-82 victory on the road.
The win is Ohio State's seventh in a row, and now tenth in its last 11 tries.
The Buckeyes improved to 18-4, 12-4 in Big Ten play. Penn State falls to 7-11 and has dropped three games in a row.
The first 13 minutes of the game were a ridiculous offensive performance on both sides. The Buckeyes hit 12-of-17 to start the game, including 5-of-6 from behind the 3-point line. At one point, they connected on nine consecutive shots. But Penn State buried 9-of-15 over that same stretch and kept within arms' reach. Ohio State led 31-22 with 7:53 to play in the first half.
A nice closing stretch from the Nittany Lions tightened it to 47-43 at the break.
E.J. Liddell had a monster first half for the Buckeyes, scoring 17 points and dominating nearly every time he touched the ball. But he picked up his second and third fouls of the game within the first three minutes of the second half and had to sit on the bench for a bit.
For as hot as they were in the first half, Ohio State opened the second half in a bad funk offensively. They hit just 2-of-8 and committed four fouls in the first five minutes after halftime.
Combined with Penn State keeping their mojo going on offense, the Buckeyes trailed 59-51 after the Nittany Lions opened the second half on a 16-4 run.
Chris Holtmann's feel for the moment has been terrific all season, and with his offense sprawling, he put Liddell back on the floor with 13:22 to go. The Buckeyes responded by scoring 15 unanswered points in just over three minutes. They capped a 20-5 run over 6:33 to take a 74-66 lead after trailing by as many as eight points in the second half.
Penn State stopped feeding the ball inside to John Harrar, whom the Buckeyes had a tough time defending. Instead, they had settled for lots of longer looks and the offense sputtered. After hitting 7-of-12 to start the half, Penn State missed 12 of its next 14 shots. Harrar fouled out with 2:51 to play, scoring nine points in 21 minutes.
Liddell, Duane Washington Jr. and C.J. Walker led the way offensively. Liddell finished with 23, Washington exploded in the second half and tallied 21, while Walker cashed in 13. Justin Ahrens had three treys in the first half.
More to come after Chris Holtmann's postgame press conference.
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