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Penn State falls to Ohio State 77-67 on Senior Night

03/04/2015, 8:30pm EST

By Anna Pitingolo

Anna Pitingolo (@anna_pitingolo)
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The last time Penn State played against Ohio State, the Nittany Lions lost in blowout fashion, falling 75-55 to the No. 23 ranked Buckeyes.

It was one of their worst losses of the season, with the Nittany Lions never getting it any closer than to within eight points.

But on Wednesday at the Bryce Jordan Center, Penn State came out determined to put that game behind them and not let that happen again.

Before the game, Penn State honored four seniors, including starters D.J. Newbill and Ross Travis. Both finish off stellar careers at Penn State; Newbill stands at number four in career scoring at Penn State (1,718) and Travis is No. 3 among career rebounders at Penn State (791).

It looked like Penn State would avoid the blowout and even pull off the upset early in the second half, leading by as many as nine points. But a three minute scoring drought midway through the half and a 10-2 run by the Buckeyes squashed any hopes the Nittany Lions had.

And while they managed to avoid a loss as devastating as last time, Penn State eventually fell to No. 23 Ohio State 77-67.

Penn State (15-15, 3-14) started the second half on an 8-0 run, with four of those points coming from Geno Thorpe, but Ohio State answered right back with an 11-0 run of its own to take the lead. The Buckeyes held onto the lead for the rest of the game, save the seven seconds Penn State was able to get up by two.

Newbill had a team-high 17 points for Penn State, giving him double-digit points for every game this season except for one.

The Nittany Lions struggled mightily on defense in the second half. After holding Ohio State (22-8, 11-6) to just 35.5 percent (11-for-31) in the first half and 1-for-8 behind the arc, Penn State couldn't stop the shot in the second. The Buckeyes went 13-for-25 (52 percent) in the second, with five made 3-pointers.

Penn State finished the game 22-for-52 (42.3 percent) and only 3-for-17 (17.6 percent) from behind the arc. Brandon Taylor had two of those threes, with Shep Garner tacking on the third.

"We didn't make shots. There were three guys keyed on D.J. most of the game and we need other guys to step up," Penn State coach Pat Chambers said. "Ross helped in the first half, D.J. helped him (Ross) in the beginning of the second half. We need other guys to step up, put the ball inside and trust it. 3-for-17, we're not going to win and you're putting too much pressure on your defense."

During Penn State's scoring drought, it seemed like every shot that Ohio State sent up went in. And in fact, the Buckeyes were 3-for-3 from the field in that time, while Penn State went 0-for-6 before Devin Foster made a pair of free throws.

"I thought we played really well for 30 minutes. It's a look into the future for me," said Chambers. "I thought we played really, really well and he (D'Angelo Russell) took over the game; that was the difference. And then everybody got hot. It seemed like we couldn't get a stop for a while there. Everybody made a shot, it was contagious."

Travis came alive on his senior night, finishing with 14 points, tying his season-high, and 8 rebounds. He also had an incredible three dunks, all of which came in the first half.

A fourth dunk was negated on a controversial call on Newbill that saw him get shoved by Amir Williams and then called for the offensive foul.

Freshman superstar Russell went off for Ohio State, finishing with 28 points on 8-for-16 shooting, including 5-for-8 for 3-pointers.

"He took over the game," said Chambers. "Obviously our game plan was geared to him, we blitzed him a ton, tried to keep the ball out of his hands. We gotta make shots, because if you don't make shots you can't get into those defenses."

Newbill sank two free throws in the first half to reach 2,000 points in his collegiate career. All but 293 of his points came at Penn State, with the others being at Southern Mississippi his freshman season.

"Think about that- 2,000 point scorer, Chambers said. "It's pretty amazing what that kid has accomplished when every defense is geared toward him. So, pretty impressive for him to reach that milestone and surpass it."

Newbill also now has 610 points on the season, his second consecutive season with 600 points.

Penn State travels to Minnesota on Sunday for the Big Ten finale against the Golden Gophers. Tip is set for 1 p.m.