No. 4 Ohio State vs. Penn State: Game Preview
It's hard to envision a team having a tougher final five games of the regular season than the Ohio State Buckeyes have in front of them.
That stretch begins on Thursday night in Happy Valley as the No. 4-ranked Buckeyes take on Penn State. And even though the Nittany Lions are not having the kind of season they envisioned, Chris Holtmann made it quite clear that his team is not looking ahead to Sunday's game against No. 3 Michigan.
“We’re ramping up preparation here for our game against a really good Penn State team,” Holtmann said on Wednesday afternoon. “I think it’s our biggest challenge of the season in a lot of ways.”
“We’ve got great respect for Penn State and the fact that we were down eight with a few minutes to go (in the last meeting). And let’s be honest, the last couple games we’ve played there haven’t been close. They’ve beat us handily. I think our guys are well aware of how good this Penn State team is. ... So, to be honest with you, I think we have a great understanding based on what they’ve done to us there the last couple years and our absolute battle with them here.”
Penn State is 7-10 on the season, but KenPom says they have played the No. 2 toughest Strength of Schedule in the entire country (out of 357 teams).
“Their physicality and scoring prowess at the guard and the wing spot is a huge challenge for us,” Holtmann said. “And (Seth) Lundy, (Myles) Dread and (Izaiah) Brockington and (Myreon) Jones, on down the line. And obviously, one of the things we haven’t mentioned is one of their leading scorers (Sam Sessoms) didn’t play against us last time. So that’s another weapon for them.”
Location: University Park, Pennsylvania
Time: 8 p.m.
TV Coverage: Big Ten Network
Announcers: Dave Revsine (play-by-play), Len Elmore (analyst)
Radio Coverage: 97.1 The Fan
Ohio State has won six games in a row and nine of its last 10 games, dating back to the first week of January. Penn State is coming off a rough loss, falling to Nebraska and ending the 'Huskers 26-game Big Ten losing streak. They've now dropped three of their last four games, including a loss to Michigan State too.
For an in-depth preview, check out our video at the top of the page. And don't forget - we always stream the postgame press conferences LIVE after each game. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the press conference and to react with us afterwards as we break down the game.
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