Ohio State Survives Turnover Plague to Beat Penn State

The Buckeyes overcame a season-high 17 turnovers for a nail-biting Big Ten win over Penn State.

Beating your opponent is difficult enough without also having to beat yourselves.

Ohio State almost beat itself with a season-high 17 turnovers but was able to squeeze past Penn State for a 83-79 victory.

It felt like Ohio State was in control for most of the first half but a wild sequence of turnovers in the final minute made it just a 4-point game at the intermission.

Despite not cracking the starting lineup in just his second game back from injury, C.J. Walker replaced Justice Sueing to start the second half and got involved immediately, knocking down a 3-pointer for the Buckeyes’ first points in the stanza.

A combination of more Ohio State turnovers and ice-cold shooting, though, turned momentum in Penn State’s favor. The only reason the Nittany Lions did not completely take over the game was a 3:12 stretch early in the half without a made field goal, which kept the Buckeyes within striking distance.

E.J. Liddell, Walker and Kyle Young all found themselves in foul trouble, which put Penn State in the bonus at the 13:40 mark of the second half. Meanwhile, Ohio State landed in the bonus itself just a few minutes later as both teams’ foul trouble played a huge part in the game’s outcome.

Head coach Chris Holtmann gambled and put Young back in the game with four fouls and 10:12 remaining in the period. The risk paid off at first with five quick points from the big man and, suddenly, the Buckeyes were back within three points. The Nittany Lions had an answer, though, and took their biggest lead of the game at eight points. Young’s luck eventually ran out as he fouled out with about 5 minutes left. Walker watched the rest of the game from the bench as well after picking up his fifth foul.

Ohio State finally started to get some stops on defense and retook the lead with 3:11 on the clock. Both teams traded leads for the final minutes but the Buckeyes’ free throw shooting down the stretch lifted them to the victory.

Liddell was the Buckeyes’ leading scorer for the second consecutive game, this time scoring 22 points with the most important ones coming from the charity stripe where he made a career-high 10 free throws. Sueing did it all with a balanced stat line of 13 points, 10 rebounds, a career-best tying two blocks and a career-high tying five steals while Zed Key contributed 11 points in his best showing since December 30. 

More to come after Chris Holtmann's postgame press conference.

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