Feb. 2, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Feb. 2, 2010 - The Nittany Lion basketball team will get another crack at a ranked team on the road Wednesday when they take on the No. 13-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (16-6; 6-3 Big Ten) at 6:30 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network and can be heard on the Penn State Sports Network.
Penn State (8-13; 0-9 Big Ten) will be looking to end a 15-game home court win streak for a Buckeye team that has won its 13 home games this season by an average of 27 points per game. Penn State has not won in Columbus since 2001 and has lost its last 11 meetings with Ohio State. The Ohio State date is one of six games Penn State will play against opponents currently ranked in the Top 25 in its final 10 Big Ten games of the season.
Nittany Lion freshman Bill Edwards is coming off a career-best 10-point and 13-rebound outing in Penn State's loss at No. 10 Purdue on Sunday. The 2009 Ohio Senior Player-of-the-Year, Edwards starred for Middletown High, also the home of former Buckeye great Jerry Lucas. His father, "Dollar Bill" Edwards is Wright State's (Dayton, Ohio) all-time leading scorer. Edwards has started the last four games for Penn State and has logged four double-digit outings on the year.
Ohio State is coming off an 85-63 whipping of Minnesota in Columbus on Sunday. The Buckeyes are led by junior Evan Turner, a front-runner for Big Ten Player-of-the-Year. Turner leads Ohio State averaging 18.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Guard William Buford logged 26 in the Buckeyes' win over Minnesota. Ohio State is shooting 54 percent from the floor in Value City Arena.
Penn State will look to end a nine-game losing skid, it's longest in four seasons. Talor Battle ranks second in the Big Ten scoring 18.8 ppg and is the only player in one of the six BCS conferences to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.