The State CollegeWhen Penn State played Ohio State on Thursday in its longstanding home Rec Hall, the 6,198-strong crowd let out plenty of jeers and boos in addition to general sadness.
The Buckeyes defeated the Nittany Lions 83-64 in their third consecutive matchup. With a 10-point deficit at the half and a six-point surge in the first few minutes of the second half, Penn State never took the lead as the game ended 4-2 barely two minutes into the evening.
Penn State (13-9, 3-8) was unable to rekindle the energy that resulted in a ranked upset of Illinois and a court storm in Rec Hall last season, and it was a clumsy, fragmented, and generally difficult game to watch. The Lions now face the possibility of finishing in the bottom three of the Big Ten and missing the conference tournament, let alone pulling off an incredible run to the NCAA Tournament.
Penn State and Ohio State (13-8, 5-5) combined for 41 free-throw attempts and 43 fouls. With 14 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the game, Penn State entered the double bonus, despite the fact that the Nittany Lion supporters in attendance felt the umpires had shorted them in the first half. Ohio State converted at 74%, while the Lions were just dreadful from the charity stripe at 55%.
Zach Hicks, a forward for Penn State, was flagged for a flagrant foul during one of the first-half stoppages, knocking Micah Parrish of Ohio State to the ground away from the ball. The crowd yelled at officials that the call was soft because there was no clear replay inside Rec Hall.
Then, after tangling up with former Lion Evan Mahaffey for a jump ball, Nick Kern Jr. of Penn State was given a technical foul. After the whistle, Kern earned the technical by tearing the ball loose and dropping it on Mahaffey. However, on John Mobley Jr.’s second free throw, an official accidentally sounded a whistle, which he missed. To the dismay of the audience, Mobley was given another chance, and he succeeded.
Puff Johnson, the starting forward for Penn State, was sidelined for Thursday’s game because he had a heavy bandage on his right hand/thumb during pregame warmups.
The Stars
Bruce Thornton, a junior guard for the Buckeyes, spearheaded the late-game surge and finished with 17 points, two assists, and two steals. Ohio State won thanks to his 5-for-7 3-point shooting, which included three in the second half.
Perhaps the night’s most impressive performer was freshman Mobley. He had just one turnover, eight assists, and a team-high 19 points.
With a game-high 21 points, five rebounds, and a block, big man Yanic Konan Niederhauser was the Lions’ lone bright spot. He created two incredible highlights, both of which featured Ivan Njegovan of Ohio State as the poster child.
He received an inbound pass, faked the ball, and drove it to his right side for a one-handed jam to score the second goal just at the end of the first half. The play obviously expressed some annoyance about what Penn State perceived to be an unfair first-half whistle.
Ivan Njegovan of Ohio State was just put in a body bag by Yanic Konan Niederhauser, even though it was a 10-point game. I’ve never witnessed a better dunk in person.lV0dFmmRRC pic.twitter.com/
Niederhauser played 33 minutes and didn’t substitute out until one minute and thirty seconds remained on Thursday, despite appearing to be in agony on at least two times. Prior to replacing Niederhauser, senior point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. played 39 minutes, although he hasn’t been his best self in a while.
Next Up
After a brief weekend off, Penn State will play Minnesota at home on Tuesday. The Golden Gophers have won three of their last four games and are 11-10 overall this season, with a 3-7 conference record. Their most recent loss came against Michigan State, ranked seventh. Tipoff from the Bryce Jordan Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
Stories by
Max Ralph