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Feb. 10, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions, winners of three of their last five games, begin a stretch of three-consecutive contests vs. ranked opponents when it travels to No. 23/21 Ohio State. Penn State will tipoff vs. the Buckeyes at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Value City Arena with the broadcast on BTN.
Penn State (15-9, 3-8 B1G) is coming off a 56-43 win over Nebraska to improve to 10-2 on the Bryce Jordan Center court this season. The Nittany Lions limited the Huskers to just 13 first-half points, marking the fewest points by an opponent in the opening frame since 12/12/07 when Princeton scored 11.
QUICK HITS
SCORING DEFENSE | In eight of 11 Big Ten games, Penn State has held its opponent below their season scoring average, including each of the last six by an average of 13.0. The Nittany Lions limited the Huskers to 43 points, 20.7 points below their season average of 63.7 points per game on the year. Penn State has not allowed more than 66 points in their last six games.
OHIO STATE | The Buckeyes (18-6, 7-4 B1G) defeated Rutgers, 79-60, their last time out and are winners in four of their last five games. They are 15-1 on their home court this season.
THE SERIES | Ohio State leads the all-time series 32-15 and is 17-4 on its home court. Penn State snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Buckeyes last season, sweeping the season series for the first time since 1998.
HEY DJ, THAT'S MY DJ | Senior guard D.J. Newbill, the top scorer among Power 5 conference players and ninth in Division I, has paced Penn State throughout season with 20.9 ppg. The No. 4 scorer all-time at PSU, he became just second player in program history to reach 500 points in three-consecutive seasons with his performance vs. Nebraska.
UP NEXT | Penn State continues its stretch of three Top 25 foes in a week by welcoming No. 19 Maryland to the BJC on Valentine's Day and No. 5 Wisconsin next Wednesday.
THE MATCHUP
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
- The Buckeyes (18-6, 7-4 B1G) defeated Rutgers, 79-60, their last time out and are winners in four of their last five games. They are 15-1 on their home court this season.
- Freshman D'Angelo Russell is the nation's top rookie scorer with 19.5 ppg. He leads the Big Ten in conference games only with 21.7 ppg, edging D.J. Newbill from the top spot for the first time this season after putting up 21.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 8.0 apg last week. He earned B1G Player and Freshman of the Week honors after posting a triple-double vs. Rutgers.
- Marc Loving is the team's second leading scorer with 11.7 ppg.
- Ohio State leads the conference and is third nationally in shooting percentage (50.3), while holding opponents to 39.0% from the field.
SERIES HISTORY
- Ohio State leads the all-time series 32-15 and is 17-4 on its home court.
- Penn State snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Buckeyes last season, sweeping the season series for the first time since 1998. The Nittany Lions won in overtime, 71-70, Jan. 29, 2014 in Columbus and 65-63 on senior night in the BJC.
- After the OT win last season, three meetings in the series have gone to overtime, the second most for Penn State vs. any Big Ten opponent behind Northwestern.
14-15 NITTANY LIONS vs. BUCKEYES
Nine current players have taken the court against Ohio State. D.J. Newbill is the leading scorer in the series with 21.0 ppg, including the highest scoring total in the series with 25 points in the OT win last season in Columbus. Newbill is tied for the most rebounds with Ross Travis (5.0).
| PLAYER | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | MISC | POINTS HIGH |
| D.J. Newbill | 3-3 | 21.0 | 5.0 | 3.7 apg | 25 at OSU 1/29/14 |
| B. Taylor | 3-1 | 8.3 | 4.7 | 4 blocks | 19 at OSU 1/29/14 |
| G. Thorpe | 2-0 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 75 FG % | 9 vs OSU 2/27/14 |
| R. Travis | 4-2 | 3.3 | 5.0 | 2 blocks | 5 at OSU 1/25/12 |
| J. Dickerson | 2-1 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 bpg | 4 at OSU, 2/27/14 |
| D. Jack | 3-1 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 3 assts | 5 vs OSU 2/27/14 |
| A. Wisniewski | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- |
| K. Montminy | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- |
| J. Johnson | 1-0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- |
LAST TIME VS. THE BUCKEYES
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Feb. 27, 2014) - D.J. Newbill posted 23 points and Tim Frazier notched 16 points as the Nittany Lions upset No. 22 Ohio State, 65-63, for the second time in 2014 on Senior Night at the Bryce Jordan Center. The win marks the Nittany Lions' first season sweep over OSU since the 1997-98 campaign. Free throws proved important down the stretch with the teams trading freebies in eight of the final 10 possessions. A 3-for-4 effort at the line by Frazier at the end of the game made all the difference and sent the Lions out on top as OSU was unable to overcome the deficit. [RECAP]
LAST TIME IN COLUMBUS
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Jan. 29, 2014) - Newbill hit a pull-up jumper over Aaron Craft with 2 seconds left in overtime, lifting Penn State to a 71-70 victory over No. 24 Ohio State and ending years of futility against the Buckeyes. Newbill, who led the Nittany Lions (11-10, 2-6 Big Ten) with 25 points, also hit a 3 that forced the extra session. Brandon Taylor added 19 points as Penn State ended Ohio State's string of victories in the series at 18. Buckeyes coach Thad Matta was 17-0 against Penn State since taking over as head coach in 2004-05. [RECAP]
THREE MORE NOTABALE GAMES
March 13, 2011 (OSU, 71-60): Making its first appearance in the Big Ten tournament championship, Penn State fell to No. 1 Ohio State, 71-60. Penn State's Talor Battle earned all-tourney honors after scoring 71 points over four games and playing all 160 minutes for the Nittany Lions. Battle went 9-for-20 vs. the Buckeyes, tallying a game-high 24 points and adding five rebounds. The Lions went on to earn a No. 10 seed in the NCAA tourney.
Feb. 27, 1999 (PSU, 98-85): Joe Crispin turned in arguably the most explosive :50 seconds of basketball in PSU history by scoring eight unanswered points to start overtime as Penn State downed No. 10 and eventual Final Four team Ohio State 98-85 in overtime at the BJC . Crispin ended the game with 29 points.
Feb. 28, 1998 (PSU, 89-85): The Lions completed the season sweep of Ohio State with an 89-85 overtime win at St. John Arena. Michael Redd had 32 for Ohio State, but Pete Lisicky had 24 points to pace the Lions in a comeback win.
BEFORE & AFTER
LAST TIME OUT
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) - Geno Thorpe scored 14 points, Brandon Taylor and D.J. Newbill had 11 as Penn State was able to take advantage of Nebraska's cold shooting to beat the Huskers 56-43 on Saturday.
The teams combined for just 35 first-half points before picking up the pace in the second half. Nebraska shot 15 of 51 from the field and just 2 of 20 from 3-point range. Nebraska (13-10, 5-6 Big Ten) trailed by as many as 11 points late in the game but closed to within 44-41 before Penn State (15-9, 3-8) pulled away with just over 3 minutes to play.
Shep Garner's 3-pointer, Thorpe's steal and layup and the same combination from D.J. Newbill gave the Lions a 55-43 lead with 34 seconds to play. Nebraska, led by 13 points from Terran Petteway and 12 from Shavon Shields, has yet to win a road game in conference play. [RECAP]
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Nittany Lions will continue their stretch of three-consecutive games vs. Top 25 foes. Following the matchup with OSU, Penn State will face No. 17 Maryland for the second time in 10 days, hosting the Terps on Valentine's Day. The Lions will then welcome No. 5 Wisconsin to the BJC Feb. 18.
The matchup vs. the Terps will be Uplifting Athletes Day, as Penn State basketball welcomes members of the football team and Uplifting Athletes to the BJC for a day of activities, beginning with a pregame kids skills combine. More information is available on GoPSUsports.com.
Maryland fell to Iowa, 71-55, Sunday and have a Wednesday night home game against Indiana before making the trip to University Park. It will be the Terps' first time in Happy Valley as Big Ten foes and the first since Big Ten/ACC Challenge in 2010.
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