Final: (14)Ohio State 65 – Penn State 51
Penn State would lose to those guys from Columbus, falling to 8-12 on the season, and 0-8 in the Big Ten.
Ohio State improved to 15-4, and 5-2 in the loaded Big Ten.
If there was ever a reason to feel positive after a loss, today might have been it. Penn State hung around 14th ranked Ohio State for pretty much the whole game, never letting the lead get much higher than 15. Penn State played hard the entire game, gave every ounce of heart they had, and came up short. The whole “heart” and “energy” thing is redundant at this point though. Now it needs to start translating into wins. Ohio State had more talent than Penn State at almost every position, and the Nittany Lions played a good game, compared to recent performances. This loss wasn’t unexpected, the Buckeyes have now beaten Penn State 18 straight times.
Some positives from the loss:
Penn State once again held the opponents best player well below his season average. In their last game against Indiana, the Nittany Lions held Cody Zeller to 2 points. Today, the Lions held the Big Ten’s leading scorer, Deshaun Thomas (just over 20 points per game), to 11 points.
Penn State had 7 blocks, which is probably more than they have had in their previous 4 games combined.
D.J. Newbill was very efficient today, on a day that D.J.’s mother was surely on his mind, being that it was Coaches vs. Cancer Day, going 5-9 from the floor, 5-8 from the free throw line, for 15 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and only 1 turnover. Having one turnover against the best on-ball defender in the Big Ten is very impressive.
Ross Travis only took 3 shots. That might be the best news of all.
Some negatives from the loss:
The loss. A loss is a loss is a loss is a loss.
Penn State got out-rebounded again, and it wasn’t even close. 38-25 in favor of the Buckeyes.
Brandon Taylor still hasn’t awaken from his 3 point slumber, going 1 for 8 from behind the arc. This kid has zero confidence in his shot right now, and it’s showing.
Penn State’s next game is on Thursday, January 31, against a young, talented Iowa Hawkeyes team that is looking for as many wins as they can get to bolster their chances to go dancing in March.
