Penn State guts out must-win squeaker at Ohio State, 75-71

Jalen Pickett wasn’t himself. Tagged with two quick penalties within the opening minutes of Penn State’s critically important matchup at Ohio State on Thursday evening, the reigning National Player of the Week was forced to the sidelines.

In his absence, the Nittany Lions battled.

In a back-and-forth skirmish, the lead changed 20 times between the two teams with five ties. But, boosted by an gritty performance from Camren Wynter, and more late-game heroics from Pickett, Penn State notched a 75-71 win over the Buckeyes.

The win improved Penn State to 17-11 overall on the season with an 8-9 mark against Big Ten competition. And, in the process, it furthered head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s argument extolling the importance of Wynter to the Nittany Lions’ operation, and the contributions beyond Pickett that have helped lead the program to its three-game winning streak.

“When a guy like Pickett is down, Pickett and Funk with fouls, and he’s not playing, and not giving you much there early, Cam really steadied us offensively,” Shrewsberry told Penn State’s radio broadcast team. “He made some tough shots throughout the game. He was big time for us. Kanye (Clary) getting a couple of buckets in there. Seth (Lundy) was really steady, he had double figures there in the first half, making some tough shots, and getting fouled on some of those. 

“Those guys are serious. We’re not a one-man band where if nothing’s happening with Pickett, we’re done. Those guys carried us until he could get going.”

Penn State fireworks

To do so, Penn State overcame a season-long anchor with gusto. A reversal of previous fortunes, the Nittany Lions had no trouble scoring at Ohio State. Facing the Buckeyes in a virtual must-win matchup to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, the Nittany Lions suffered no prolonged scoring drought or shooting dry spell.

Rather, led by the crucial contributions of Wynter and Lundy in the first half with Pickett sidelined with foul trouble, followed by his stunning second-half explosion, Penn State put up season-best offensive numbers on the road.

That took shape as 27-of-52 made baskets, with another 10 3-pointers downed and a 1.389 points per possession average. 

The issue?

Against an Ohio State program struggling through a brutally difficult Big Ten schedule, losing 13 of 14 games coming into the matchup, Penn State’s defensive woes remained. Led by 20 points from Brice Sensabaugh and another 19 from Bruce Thornton, the two Buckeye freshmen combined to hit 15-of-26 shots for 39 points, and gave the Nittany Lions fits throughout.

Beating Penn State’s points per possession with 1.392 of their own, scoring on 62.7 percent of their trips up the hardwood, the Buckeyes suffered just one turnover and outshot the Nittany Lions 63-52.

Back-and-forth battle

The result was a tie at 37-37 at the half, Penn State’s 6-point advantage serving as a high water mark. And, after the break, Penn State struggled to pull away even with Pickett’s return from foul trouble. Taking a 55-49 advantage on a pair of Pickett free throws at the 13:59 mark, Ohio State immediately responded with an 8-0 run to retake a 57-55 lead, its first of the half, at the 11:28 mark. 

Trading leads seven times from that point forward, Pickett eventually overtook the Buckeye freshmen on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Pickett scored Penn State’s final 14 points over the last 7:15 of game action exploiting mismatches against Ohio State’s less experienced defenders.

“He wasn’t himself early in the game. But then he got going a little bit in the second half and then late,” Shrewsberry said. “We were just hunting matchups with him and trying to get him on certain people and letting him operate. He was scoring tough baskets on whoever. 

“A couple of those, even the ones that he missed, were right at the rim and I thought he got fouled on a couple. But that’s okay. He was making good, strong drives and getting to the basket, and then when they overdid it, he kicked it out and guys got open shots.”

Finding defense late

All the while, Penn State finally found the defensive identity it’s been seeking throughout the season. Limiting the Buckeyes to 3-of-15 shooting in the final 6 minutes, including a frantic barrage of 3-point shots from the hosts (while trailing by 4) in the final 30 seconds, the Nittany Lions emerged unscathed.

“I thought Pickett, Seth, Myles, all those guys did a great job of keeping them out of the middle, walling them up, showing their hands, not fouling them, and making them take tough shots,” Shrewsberry said. “They made a couple but they were tough shots and we were getting the rebound, you know, besides that last possession.”

The Nittany Lions return to action Sunday when they host Rutgers at the Bryce Jordan Center (6:30 p.m., BTN).