Penn St. Nittany Lions vs Ohio St. Buckeyes Match Player Stats On Mar 02, 2018

With the win, the sixth-seeded Nittany Lions advance to a Saturday semifinal matchup against the eighth-ranked Purdue. The third-seeded Boilermakers won a quarterfinal showdown with 14th-seeded Rutgers, 82-75.

Keita Bates-Diop had 25 points, including nine in the final seven minutes, to lead Ohio State, but he missed a 3-pointer with just over a minute left and committed a turnover with 21 seconds left to set up Penn State's game-winning basket. Kam Williams and Jaesean Tate each added 10 points for the Buckeyes (24-8), who finished the conference slate tied for second with a 15-3 record.

Tony Carr led Penn State (21-12) with 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting, with six rebounds and five assists, and Lamar Stevens added 15 points. Carr had 30 points in the Nittany Lions' 79-56 win over Ohio State on Feb. 16.

The Penn State star sophomore guard, who averaged 20 points during the regular season, got off to a good start. Carr had 14 first-half points on 6-for-11 shooting as the Nittany Lions claimed a 33-32 first-half lead despite shooting just 38 percent from the field. Stevens had 12 points in the first half on 4-for-9 shooting, but aside from him and Carr, the rest of Nittany Lions went just 2-for-12 from the field in the first half.

Helping Penn State's cause was a 21-16 first-half rebounding advantage.

Ohio State was led in the first half by Bates-Diop (eight points) and Tate (seven points, six rebounds). The Buckeyes shot 41 percent in the first half.

The Nittany Lions finished the game shooting just 37.9 percent from the field, but they made 47.4 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line while outrebounding the Buckeyes 40-32.

--Field Level Media