Ohio State suffered its first Big Ten loss of the year in heartbreaking fashion.
After Ohio State's Keita Bates-Diop hit his third consecutive 3-point shot to tie the game at 79-79 with just five seconds to play, Penn State's Tony Carr responded by banking in a 30-foot buzzer-beater to defeat the Buckeyes, 82-79, and hand Ohio State its first loss in conference play on Thursday night at Value City Arena.
Carr led the Nittany Lions with 28 points for the game, while Lamar Stevens contributed 15 and Shep Garner had 14 for the winners, as Penn State finished the game shooting 58 percent from the floor and 11-of-14 from 3-point range.
Bates-Diop led the Buckeyes, who are now 18-5 overall and 9-1 on the season, with 25 points in defeat.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| PENN STATE | 38 | 44 | 82 |
| #13 OHIO STATE | 37 | 42 | 79 |
The Nittany Lions were hot from beyond the arc right from the beginning of the game, making each of their first five shots from 3-point range – with Carr and Garner making a pair each – to take a 16-6 lead into the the first media timeout.
Carr, Garner and Stevens combined to make their first seven field goal attempts and score all but two of Penn State's first 25 points as the Nittany Lions took an 11-point lead into the second media timeout.
After that, the Nittany Lions' scorers began to cool down, and Ohio State went on a 16-5 run – with Bates-Diop, Jae'Sean Tate and Kam Williams combining to score all 16 of those Buckeyes points – to tie the game at 30-30 with 4:57 to play in the first half.
Ultimately, however, Penn State took a 38-37 lead into halftime, marking only the second time in 10 Big Ten games this season that Ohio State has trailed at the break (The Buckeyes trailed Michigan, 43-30, at halftime of their 71-62 win on Dec. 4).
| OHIO STATE | STAT | PENN STATE |
|---|---|---|
| 79 | POINTS | 82 |
| 28-50 (56.0%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 28-48 (58.3%) |
| 7-15 (46.7%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 11-14 (78.6%) |
| 16-16 (100%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 15-20 (75.0%) |
| 11 | TURNOVERS | 10 |
| 25 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 21 |
| 7 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 6 |
| 18 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 15 |
| 5 | BENCH POINTS | 13 |
| 4 | BLOCKS | 1 |
| 5 | STEALS | 2 |
| 12 | ASSISTS | 10 |
The Buckeyes took their first lead of the game when Tate scored the first two points of the second half, but Penn State then went on a 17-6 run that gave the Nittany Lions a 10-point lead with just over 12 minutes to play. It didn't help matters that Ohio State was called for seven fouls in the first six minutes of the second half – putting the Nittany Lions in the bonus for the rest of the game, and Bates-Diop on the bench for the most of the half with four personal fouls – as the home crowd at Value City Arena did not hesitate to show their displeasure with the game's officials.
Penn State led by as many as 13 points with less than eight minutes to play after Garner hit his fourth three of the game to give the Nittany Lions a 67-54 lead. After that, however, the Buckeyes clawed back with an 10-4 run – highlighted by Jackson hitting a pair of threes and then drawing a foul in transition – to cut the lead to seven with just over four minutes to play.
Ohio State trailed by nine with less than three minutes to play, but the Buckeyes went on an 11-2 run from there – with Bates-Diop hitting big shot after big shot from beyond the arc – to nearly force the game to overtime.
Ultimately, however, a Buckeye victory wasn't in the cards as Carr hit a perfect shot as time expired, sending the Nittany Lions' bench into a dogpile celebration on the floor and sending the Value City Arena crowd home with its heads hanging.
Now, Holtmann will have to rally his team from a conference loss for the first time this season as Ohio State will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday at 7 p.m., when the Buckeyes host Indiana at Value City Arena.
