Penn State comfortable with quick turnaround as it looks to Ohio State | Preview, prediction

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry left the second of his team’s two defeats against Ohio State back on January 16 feeling like the Nittany Lions had been outcompeted.

They allowed offensive rebounds off free throws. They lacked discipline on defense. The result was a narrow, 61-56 defeat.

“They beat us,” Shrewsberry said the next day. “They swept us. I hope we get them again a third time in Indy.”

Ask and you shall receive.

The Nittany Lions will get that third chance against the sixth-seeded Buckeyes Thursday night at approximately 9 p.m. after handling Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Ohio State enters into this game having lost three of its last four — with two of those defeats coming at home. Their most recent outing was a 75-69 defeat to a Michigan team playing without star center Hunter Dickinson.

RELATED: Penn State propelled to win by sterling Jalen Pickett performance

Penn State, however, must deal with the challenges a short turnaround presents.

Star point guard Jalen Pickett played all 40 minutes for the Nittany Lions Wednesday night against the Gophers. Forward Seth Lundy wasn’t far behind him at 37.

Interestingly, the teams that advance from day one of the Big Ten Tournament are 5-7 in their second game since the conference adopted the current format.

It’s not a winning record, but it’s better than one might expect from the bottom four teams in the conference against the fifth and sixth seeds.

“We got our guys out of here as quickly as possible to get back to the hotel, to eat and then start the recovery process,” Shrewsberry said after Wednesday’s win. “It’s something that like we were expecting to come here and win and play tomorrow, so we’ve had this in our mind of what our plan’s going to look like and how we’re going to get ready to play this next game.

“We’ll go and walk through our game plan, our scouting report, we’ll get our guys off their feet and we’ll come in here. And the one thing is, no matter if they’re tired or not, I guarantee they’re going to come in here and fight tomorrow.”

Scouting the Buckeyes

Ohio State comes into the game as KenPom’s 27th-ranked team. Much like Minnesota, the Buckeyes are an offense-first group.

KenPom ranks their offensive efficiency 11th in the nation. However, Ohio State has the Big Ten’s third-worst defense, ranking 122nd.

Like Penn State, the Buckeyes play slow, averaging 18.8 seconds per possession on offense — 312th out of 358 teams. They don’t turn the ball over, but they don’t force very many, either.

Ohio State is led by first-team All-Big Ten forward EJ Liddell. He tops the Buckeye charts in scoring with 19.4 points per game and rebounding, with 7.9 per contest. The Nittany Lions dealt with him pretty well in the first two meetings of the season. Liddell scored 19 points in Columbus and 14 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Freshman Malaki Branham is the only other Buckeye averaging double figures, with 13.2 points per game. The offense is conducted by a familiar face — former Nittany Lion Jamari Wheeler, who transferred to Columbus this offseason.

Ohio State has some injury issues coming into this one. Senior forward Kyle Young won’t play due to a concussion. He averages 8.2 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Starting big man Zed Key is a game-time decision as well.

Penn State vs Ohio State prediction

Ohio State 63, Penn State 61

Ohio State’s injury situation makes it vulnerable, and, even at full strength, we know that the Nittany Lions are capable of defending well enough to stay in this game. They might not be capable of scoring enough to win it, though. Penn State consistently falls up just short in games like this against quality opposition. And its offense is almost always at fault.