Penn State Upsets Ohio State, 71-68, In Second Round Of Big Ten Tournament

The Nittany Lions outscored the Buckeyes by 12 points in the second half of Thursday night's game.

Author:
Andrew Lind
Mar 10, 2022 11:15 PM EST

Despite leading by as much as 13 points in the first half, Ohio State fell to Penn State, 71-68 , in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday evening. It was the Nittany Lions' first win in three meetings between the two teams this season.

How It Happened:

The Buckeyes got on the board first with a three-pointer from junior forward E.J. Liddell on the opening possession of the game.
Freshman guard Malaki Branham landed awkwardly on his first shot attempt of the night and briefly exited the game. He returned after riding the stationary bike on the sideline for a few minutes with the Buckeyes leading 5-2 with 14:46 left in the first half.
Sixth-year senior center Joey Brunk got the start in place of sophomore forward Zed Key, who is dealing with a nagging ankle injury, and got his first bucket of the game on the next possession.
Liddell scored seven of Ohio State’s first nine points, while fifth-year senior guard Cedric Russell knocked down a three off of an offensive rebound to put the Buckeyes up 12-4 at the 12:32 mark.
Keeping with the hot hand, Liddell hit another three-pointer that forced Penn State to call timeout.
Senior guard Sam Sessoms responded out of the break with three to cut into the lead before sophomore guard Eugene Brown III pushed the Buckeyes ahead 20-7 with a three-pointer of his own.
Ohio State’s band was stuck behind a major accident on I-70 and missed the start of the game but arrived with 6:50 to play in the first half and the Buckeyes leading 22-12.
The Nittany Lions had five early turnovers but started to close the gap when they cut down on the careless play, cutting the lead to 26-21 with a three-pointer from senior guard Jalen Pickett with 3:20 left.
Fifth-year senior Jamari Wheeler, who transferred from Penn State this offseason, hit a step-back three over his former teammate, junior forward Seth Lundy, to put Ohio State up 31-24 with just under a minute to play before halftime.
Liddell was fouled on a dunk attempt and knocked down both free throws to send the Buckeyes to the locker room with a 33-24 lead.
Branham scored the first four points of the second half for the Buckeyes to extend the lead to 37-26 but the Nittany Lions went on a 10-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to make it a one-possession game.
Liddell ended the run with a fadeaway jumper and the foul for an old fashioned three-point play.
Penn State cut the lead to four with a basket on the other end before Russell knocked down a three to push it back to seven. Wheeler then made a layup high off the backboard to give Ohio State a nine-point lead with 13:48 remaining.
Three straight baskets allowed the Nittany Lions to cut the deficit to just three points with 7:50 left, forcing the Buckeyes to call a timeout.
Ohio State scoring drought, which lasted more than three minutes, ended with a pair of free throws from Liddell to push it back to 53-48 before Penn State responded with a layup at the other end.
After a massive pump fake, senior guard Myles Dread knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 53 apiece, then Lundy hit a three on the next possession to give the Nittany Lions their first lead of the game. That capped a 14-3 run over a four-minute period.
Branham fouled a driving Sessoms, who hit the layup and the free throw to give Penn State a 59-56 lead with 4:26 remaining. That increased to four before Branham knocked down a layup with 1:55 left to cut the lead to 64-62.
Ohio State forced a tough jumper form Sessoms but fifth-year senior center John Harrar grabbed an offensive rebound and put down the dunk to push it back to four.
After Liddell split a pair of free throws, Pickett was fouled and knocked down both to extend the lead to 68-63 with just over 30 seconds remaining.
A contested shot by Russell was rebounded by Liddell and kicked out to senior forward Justin Ahrens who missed the three-point attempt.
Pickett missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Liddell missed a three-pointer and Dread knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the win, with Wheeler hitting a meaningless three with one second left to bring the final score closer.

Liddell led all scorers with 25 points for Ohio State, while Branham and Brunk were also in double figures with 16 and 10 points apiece. Sessoms and Dread added 18 and 12 points off the bench for Penn State, which also got 16 points from Pickett and 12 from Harrar.

The Buckeyes now await their NCAA Tournament fate, which will be announced on Sunday, while the Nittany Lions take on Purdue in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, with tipoff set for approximately 9 p.m. on Friday.

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