Ohio State gets first road win over Penn State in Chris Holtmann era
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Pick a statistic, and it’s not been variety to Ohio State beneath Chris Holtmann on the Bryce Jordan Center.
CJ Walker helped flip a couple of of them on their heads. With Penn State rolling and No. 4 Ohio State on upset alert throughout the second half, the senior guard bailed out his teammates with a three-pointer on a poor offensive possession to chop right into a game-high, eight-point deficit.
It settled the Buckeyes. Then, with 13:24 left and the Nittany Lions’ lead nonetheless at seven factors, Walker drew a foul on a drive and hit each free throws. It was the beginning of a game-changing, 15-0 run that led Ohio State (18-4, 12-4 Big Ten) to their first road win in opposition to Penn State (7-11, 4-10) in the Holtmann era, 92-82.
When Gene Brown hit what can be his third three-pointer of Big Ten play, Ohio State had a 69-61 lead with 9:40 to play and a few crucial respiratory room. Penn State would not go away, but it surely would not get nearer than 4 factors the remainder of the best way, both.
With the win, the Buckeyes will enter Sunday’s showdown with No. 3 Michigan as winners of seven straight and 10 of their final 11. They have additionally topped 90 factors for a fourth time this season.
E.J. Liddell led the Buckeyes with 23 factors and Duane Washington Jr. had 21. They scored 44 factors on mixed 14-for-21 taking pictures.
In their two prior journeys to Penn State with Holtmann on the helm, the Buckeyes had led for a complete of 90 seconds in a pair of double-digit losses. At one level, throughout the 2017-18 season, Ohio State trailed by 30 factors on this flooring.
This time, the Buckeyes took a lead on a Washington three-pointer solely 70 seconds into the sport, and when Justin Ahrens and Liddell adopted swimsuit on the subsequent two possessions Ohio State had already held a lead longer than its two prior journeys right here. And because of some early sizzling taking pictures, the Buckeyes constructed a 10-point lead at 22-12 and had been nonetheless forward by 9 when Liddell hit consecutive jumpers to offer the Buckeyes a 31-22 lead with 7:53 to play in the first half.
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But identical to when these groups performed at Value City Arena on January 27, that may dissipate as Penn State fought again. A 9-0 run capped by consecutive threes from Jamari Wheeler tied the rating and led to Holtmann calling timeout with 5:42 left in the half.
It didn’t gradual the recent taking pictures for both workforce. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions would mix to attain on the ultimate 10 possessions of the half, and it ended when Seth Towns handed up a contested three-pointer with about two seconds left to search out Ahrens in the correct nook for a wide-open one which he bought off proper earlier than the buzzer.
It swished via the online, and Ohio State took a 47-43 lead into the break. Both groups handled accidents throughout the remaining minute: Wheeler went down laborious after a foul on Walker and needed to be helped off the courtroom, whereas Ohio State’s Musa Jallow landed on a participant’s foot and limped off with an obvious left ankle harm. He was checked out by the coaching employees and headed to the locker room earlier than the break whereas Wheeler couldn’t watch the ultimate seconds as he sat with a towel over his head on the baseline.
At the half, Ohio State was 17 for 26 (65.4%) from the ground with 14 assists whereas Penn State was 15 for 28 (53.6%).
Towns fell awkwardly throughout the second half and limped off the courtroom with 10:38 to play. He missed the final two seasons with an injured knee and obtained consideration from the coaching employees whereas watching the rest of the sport from the bench space.
Holtmann wore a towel over his shoulder in reminiscence of the late Georgetown coach John Thompson.
