No. 8 Ohio State (22-6, 13-2) went into Penn State (19-9, 9-6) Thursday night looking for revenge, but instead they found a Nittany Lion team that had other, much more sinister, things in mind.
Penn State guard Tony Carr scored a game-high 30 points in pacing the Nittany Lions, who shot .481 from the field and .450 from three-point range on 20 attempts. Carr was one of four Penn State players who scored in double figures.
The Buckeyes, meanwhile, had just two scorers in double digits, led by C.J. Jackson’s 13 points. Keita Bates-Diop added 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
For the game, Ohio State shot just .389 from the field and 2-of-15 from three-point territory.
The Buckeyes only lead of the game came at 4-2 with 18 minutes remaining in the first half. They had no answers for the other 38 minutes.
At one point, Penn State’s lead in the second half ballooned to 30 points at 54-24 with 17:07 to play. Ohio State responded with a 13-1 run to make it an 18-point game. A three-pointer from Shep Garner got Penn State going again. The Buckeyes responded with the next five points, but they would get no closer than 16 points.
Penn State opened the lead back up to 20 points and kept it there for most of the game’s final eight minutes.
The loss dropped Ohio State into a first-place tie with Michigan State at 13-2 in conference play. Purdue’s loss at Wisconsin Thursday night moves them down to 12-3 in B1G play. Nebraska is currently fourth in the standings with an 11-4 mark.
The Buckeyes next play Sunday at Michigan. The Wolverines are fifth in the Big Ten with a 10-5 record.
