Field Level Media
Feb 7, 2019
Luther Muhammad scored 20 points as Ohio State held off Penn State 74-70 in a foul-filled game Big Ten game Thursday at Columbus, Ohio.
Kyle Young put the Buckeyes ahead 71-70 with 63 seconds left. Lamar Stevens thought he gave Penn State a 72-71 lead with 32.2 seconds left, but he did not beat the shot clock.
After Andre Wesson made a free throw for a 72-70 Ohio State lead with 29.7 seconds left, Penn State's Rasir Bolton missed an open layup. The Nittany Lions fouled, and C.J. Jackson made a pair of foul shots before Penn State missed two shots.
There were 44 fouls called (Penn State 23, Ohio State 21) in the game -- three technical.
Stevens and Josh Reaves had 20 points apiece for Penn State (8-15, 1-11 Big Ten).
Ohio State (15-7, 5-6) led 34-31 at halftime.
Penn State jumped to an 8-2 lead with Reaves scoring all of the Nittany Lions' points, but the game quickly turned around with an 11-0 streak for the Buckeyes over a 3:53 span.
A free throw by Stevens interrupted the run, but Ohio State followed with 10 straight points and a 23-9 advantage with 9:30 left.
The Buckeyes were able to extend the lead to its largest margin, 28-13, at the 5:16 mark on a baseline drive by Muhammad.
Penn State still trailed 33-20 with 3:04 to go but pressured the Buckeyes into turnovers and hurried shots to go on an 11-1 run to pull to within three points by the break.
Stevens started the rally with a bucket and ended it with a three-point play with 15.3 seconds left.
Even though the Buckeyes were 25-9 last season, they lost all three games to Penn State, including 69-68 in the conference semifinals.
Penn State was coming off a 59-52 win at Northwestern on Monday to end an eight-game losing streak.
Ohio State plays at Indiana on Sunday. Penn State hosts No. 7 Michigan on Tuesday.
--Field Level Media