Ohio State 73 – Penn State 59
Submitted by Darren Demaree on Wed, 02/25/2009 - 11:55
In a back-and-forth game that saw the Ohio State Buckeyes (18-8) jump out to a 19-2 lead, then see the Penn State Lions (19-9) come all the way back to take a 5-point lead in the second half, it took the point guard combo of P.J. Hill, who got his first start of the year, and Jeremie Simmons, hitting open 3-point shots seemingly for the first time all year to push the Buckeyes to a 73-59 victory.
What we saw for 30 minutes was a completely shut down Evan Turner, who was getting pushed around by Penn State’s Columbus native Jamelle Cornley who used his wide body to keep Turner out of the lane. Though he couldn’t get in the lane, he was able to find P.J. Hill, Jeremie Simmons, and Jon Diebler camped out behind the line to hit a combined 9 3-point shots. It took some late free throws to get Evan Turner up to 6 points, but he also threw in 8 assists, and 6 rebounds.
What was lost in the furious 3-point shooting by the Buckeyes was B.J. Mullens showing his NBA ready hands and footwork for the first time all year. He’s scored more points before, he’s gotten more rebounds, but it was by far his most complete performance with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. He also showed hustle and move on the court, even expecting and demanding the ball on occasion.
For Penn State it was a very even performance with six Nittany Lions scoring 9 points or more, led by future all-Big Ten point guard Talor Battle who had 10 points, 7 assists, and 9 rebounds. This is a feisty team, and if they had any talent over 6-8 they would have beaten the Buckeyes by ten points.
This was a must win. They won it, finally, with his back against the wall Thad Matta came up with a rotation that could keep energy up for forty minutes despite having no legs left from their Sunday disappointment. They still need to win at least one more game, maybe two to ensure their selection in the Big Dance, but once again they’ve given us hope.
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