Three takeaways from Penn State basketball's upset of Ohio State

Penn State Nittany Lions basketball lives to play another day.

Penn State upset sixth-seeded Ohio State, 71-68, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, where the Nittany Lions will meet Purdue.

Let’s get into three takeaways from the win.

1. Nittany Lions feast inside

We’ve all seen a March upset before.

A lower seed comes across an opponent with superior talent and springs a trap using basketball’s great equalizer: The three-point line. There is little even the best of teams can do to stop opposition who get hot from beyond the arc.

This didn’t follow that script. The Nittany Lions carved this upset out of different stone.

Penn State shot at a lower clip than the favored Buckeyes from three-point land.

Instead, the Lions did their work in the paint.

Over and over again, Penn State’s guards drove the ball into the heart of the Buckeye defense. And, repeatedly, they left with two points.

The Nittany Lions outscored the Buckeyes 32-14 in the paint. The majority of that came from Sam Sessoms and Jalen Pickett.

“These guys just kind of found different ways to get to their strengths,” Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said.

Penn State’s 46 percent clip from the field was its second-highest mark away from the Bryce Jordan Center this season — certainly a function from the looks the Nittany Lions earned close to the basket.

2. The Pickett and Sessoms show

The orchestrators of Penn State’s big-time performance down low were its guards.

John Harrar played his part, yes, picking up 12 points.

But Sessoms and Pickett were the true difference makers for the Nittany Lions and ultimately the reason they’ll play Purdue for a spot in the Big Ten semifinals.

Sessoms finished with a team-high 18 points, and Pickett added 16, tormenting the Buckeyes while working with ball-screen action on just about every possession.

“We worked on our spacing a lot all season,” guard Myles Dread said. “We worked on being in a ball screen and having the right spacing, creating separation, playing on opposite planes. It was really beautiful to see it come to fruition in the second half today.”

Pickett’s first foray into the Big Ten Tournament couldn’t be going much better. After a 22-point performance on Wednesday against Minnesota, he’s now a combined 15-25 from the field during these two games.

But this wasn’t Sessoms’ first time around. He’s been here before. The Nittany Lions were eliminated from last year’s Big Ten Tournament at the same stage. Wisconsin bested Penn State 75-74, and Sessoms turned the ball over in the final seconds.

“We made it to the second day with a loss on a last-second decision made by me,” Sessoms said. “I’m just happy to make it to Friday with this group of guys. We really deserve it.”

3. Penn State wanted this more

With three Ohio State defenders hanging off him and his team up two with 1:25 to go, Harrar skied for an offensive rebound he had no business collecting.

As Harrar often does, he pulled it down anyway, laying it in to give the Nittany Lions a four-point lead.

“He makes plays like that every single game for us,” Shrewsberry said. “That’s who he is. Unbelievable will for a guy to play like how he plays, to get ready to play all day today, then come out and play 31 minutes as hard as he plays on both ends.

“You can’t say enough things about that kid.”

Let’s be clear, the Nittany Lions needed this. Their season is likely over the next time they lose. Ohio State can fall back to Columbus now and prepare for the NCAA Tournament, comfortably assured of its postseason status.

It could not match Penn State’s desperation. And it showed.

“They just played harder,” Ohio State star EJ Liddell said.