Thoughts on OSU’s win over Penn State
Right: Ohio State’s Evan Turner drives by Penn State’s David Jackson on his way to the tin.
(AP Photo)
Ohio State’s Mr. Everything, Evan Turner, had a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six assists as the Buckeyes defeated Penn State, 75-62, before an announced crowd of 14,148 at the Schottenstein Center, Wednesday night.
Ohio State scored eight of the games first 10 points and after a pair of free throws from William Buford with 8:02 left in the first half, the Buckeyes claim a 10-point lead at 21-11 and were in control for the remainder of the opening period cruising to a 36-24 advantage at intermission.
It was more of the same for most of the second half.
Penn State’s David Jackson scored on a layup with nine minutes left in the final stanza to cut Ohio State lead down to 53-47. It was the Nittany Lions smallest deficit since midway through the first half.
A minute later, Dallas Lauderdale scored on a conventional three-point play with 8:01 remaining in the game and Ohio State went back up by double-digits.
With 4:23 left, Turner scored on a fadeaway jumper from the baseline and the Buckeyes still held on to a 10-point lead at 65-55.
From that the stage of the game, Penn State mounted a 7-0 run to make it a one-possession game after Jackson sank a pair of charity-stripe tosses to cut Ohio State’s lead down to 65-62.
But then Jon Diebler, who was 0-5 from three-point range up to this point of the game, connected from downtown with 1:30 left to pad Ohio State’s lead. From then on, the Buckeyes went 7-of-8 from the free throw line while the Nittany Lions couldn’t find the bottom of the basket for the remainder of the contest.
This, that and the other:
Where have you’ve gone, P.J. Hill? Hill, who is averaging 15.5 minutes of action per game, didn’t not see the floor against Penn State. It was the second time in four games that he failed to make an appearance. In the other two games, he has played a grand total of seven minutes. Last night against the Nittany Lions, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta went just seven-deep as Kyle Madsen came off the bench in place of Dallas Lauderdale and Jeremie Simmons was William Buford’s sub.
Speaking of Simmons, he scored his first field goal since the Purdue game back on Jan. 12 when he hit a three-pointer in the first half against Penn State. In a span of five games, Simmons was 0-of-8 from the field.
As for Diebler, he’s not much of a factor unless he’s hitting his threes. Diebler was 1-of-6 from beyond the arc and scored just three points with no rebounds or assists in 40 minutes.
Dallas Lauderdale has been playing better of late. He only scored five points, but had seven rebounds in 26 minutes. He had to sit some, though, because of foul trouble.
Buford has been doing his best impersonation of Turner lately. Against Penn State, he had 19 points with four rebounds and five assists.
David Lighty also scored in double figures with 12 points. He was 4-of-6 from three-point range, but was 0-of-3 on two-point shots. He also collected five rebounds.
Offensively, it was a solid effort for the Buckeyes as they shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field, though they were just 7-of-20 (35.0%) from beyond the arc.
Defensively, though, it was a different story. Penn State shot 47.9 percent (23-of-48) from the floor and the Buckeyes were only able to force 11 Nittany Lion turnovers.
Up next, Ohio State hosts Iowa, Sunday afternoon. Tip-off at the Schottenstein Center is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
