Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Survive Weird Weather, Weird Trip and Weird Game for Win in State College
By John Porentas

The Buckeyes capped a weird road trip with a win in weird game.

Following a trip to State College that was delayed a day by a winter storm that brought snow, ice and frigid temperatures to the midwest No. 2 Ohio State (23-3, 11-1 Big Ten) was red hot from the field in the first half while home standing Penn State (10-14, 1-14 Big Ten) was as cold as the winter weather outside. The Nittany Lions managed a 10-6 lead at the first TV timeout, but from then on, the Buckeyes were on fire. OSU outscored Penn State 34-9 after that timeout to take what looked like an insurmountable 40-19 lead as the half ended.

OSU lead by as many as 24 early in the second half when Ron Lewis hit a three to make the score 50-26. Then the weirdness started.

OSU managed just 14 more points the rest of game as they went stone cold from outside and began turning the ball over. The Lions, meanwhile, played like somebody had lit a fire under them and thawed them out.

Led by forward Geary Claxton the Lions staged a comeback that had the 10,027 fans who braved the weather rocking in Bryce-Jordan Arena.

The Buckeyes led by 21 at 54-33 following a dunk by OSU freshman center Greg Oden but Oden was called for a technical on the play for slapping the ball after it went through the rim. The Lions converted the two free throws and went on a 10-2 run to cut OSU's lead to 56-43 with plenty of time remaining. Oden stopped that run with a basket and it looked like OSU would weather the storm. The Lion's storm, however, was persistent as the winter storm outside.

The Lions cut the lead to single digits at 60-52 and trailed by just nine with 3:27 remaining, then cut the lead to just three at 63-60 on a three pointer with 50 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Buckeyes went back up by four at 64-60 when Jamar Butler made the front end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds remaining, but Oden committed a personal foul at the other end that put Claxton on the line for two free throws with 11 seconds to play. Claxton made them both to cut the lead to just two and set up the dramatic last 11 seconds.

The Lions were able to foul Ron Lewis with 10.7 seconds remaining to put Lewis on the line for one-and-one, but Lewis was unable to hit the front end. The Lions rebounded and hustled the ball down the court and got an open look at a three pointer from the top of the circle for Mike Walker. Walker got the shot off but it was long and harmlessly bounce off the back of the iron to allow OSU to claim the win.

Claxton led alls scorers with 19 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double. Jamelle Cornley added 14 for the Lions. For Buckeyes reached double figures led by Oden with 15. Ron Lewis added 12 and Jamar Butler and Daequan Cook each tallied 11. Oden also gathered 10 rebounds for a double-double.

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