Penn State came up short in its upset bid of No. 16 Ohio State on Sunday afternoon as the Nittany Lions fell 61-56 to the Buckeyes on Columbus giving Ohio State the regular season series sweep.
The Nittany Lions started well despite not having leading scorer Seth Lundy available due to an undisclosed reasons, Lundy did not travel with the team to Columbus according to the Big Ten Network broadcast.
Nevertheless Penn State pushed out to an early 10-4 lead behind an early shooting spurt and a cold-starting Buckeye team coming off a loss to Wisconsin. Ohio State would eventually get its feet underneath it, firing off its own 19-4 scoring run to put the Buckeyes ahead by nine with just over five minutes to go in the first half.
Penn State’s own, brief 8-4 spurt managed to make it a five point 27-22 halftime margin with the Buckeyes ahead by just two possessions despite dominating much of the final 10 minutes of the first half.
It was largely more of the same in the second half as Ohio State would push out to a 10-point lead on three different occasions in the second half only to see the Nittany Lions claw back within six, five and four points each time. Penn State would find itself down just 48-44 with over five minutes to go in regulation but would get no close despite Ohio State not making a single basket from the field over the final 5:07 of the game. Instead the Buckeyes lived at the free throw stripe, making 10 free throws and attempting 22 more free throws all game than the Nittany Lions.
Meanwhile Penn State managed two made baskets between the 4:02 to 0:53 mark with late baskets by Jalen Pickett and Sam Sessoms in the game’s final moments with limited utility.
Sessoms led the way with 15 points while Greg Lee continued to show why he was recruited to Penn State out of the transfer portal with a nine point, eight rebound afternoon. Both Myles Dread and Jalanni White fouled out of the game combining for just five points 2-for-10 shooting.
Penn State lost the battle on the glass 37-30, a rarity for this rebound-minded group but gave up just seven second-chance points. Ohio State shot just 39% from the floor in a game that was ultimately decided at the free throw line with bench points, points in the paint and turnovers all effectively equal between the two teams.
Penn State will return home to face Minnesota at the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday evening looking to move back to .500 in conference play now 3-4 on the year against Big Ten opponents.
