MARCH 4 UPDATE:The Penn State men's basketball game against Ohio State will go on as scheduled Wednesday. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes will tip at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Full preview follows.
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March 3, 2015
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's basketball team hosts No. 23 Ohio State at 6 p.m. Wednesday on Senior Night in the Bryce Jordan Center and on BTN. The Nittany Lions have won each of their last two Senior Night matchups, knocking off No. 4 Michigan in 2013 and No. 22 Ohio State a year ago.
PROMO PLANS
Giveaway: D.J. Newbill bobbleheads will be available to all fans while supplies last
Dollar Dog Night: Dietz & Watson hot dogs will be available for $1
QUICK HITS
SENIOR NIGHT | Four Nitany Lion players - Kevin Montminy, D.J. Newbill, Ross Travis and Alan Wisniewski - and five team managers will be honored prior to tipoff Wednesday. The managers are: Derek Null, Sam Rose, Mike Scheier, Chris Conti and Andrew Santo. The group will be honored at the 15:00 mark of the pregame countdown, around 5:40 p.m. Fans are encouraged to be seated by 5:30 p.m.
MR. NEWBILL | D.J. Newbill has led the Big Ten in scoring since the season tipped off, averaging 20.4 ppg to lead all NCAA players from power 5 conferences. He is fourth in Penn State career scoring, after three seasons, and is poised to become third player all-time to produce back-to-back 600-plus point campaigns. He is just the second PSU player with three-consecutive 500-plus point seasons. [MORE: 17-18]
OHIO STATE | The Buckeyes are coming off a 65-61 comeback win over Purdue Sunday. They are 21-8 on the season, 10-6 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll released Monday.
SCORING DEFENSE | In 11 of 16 Big Ten games, Penn State has held its opponent below their season scoring average, including nine of the last 11.
KING OF BOARDS | Ross Travis is the third-ranked rebounder in Penn State history with 784. He is in the Top 35 among active NCAA Division I players and No. 3 among current Big Ten players.
SO CLOSE | Eleven of Penn State's Big Ten games have been decided by single digits, tied for the second-most among Big Ten schools, most recently with a four-point loss to Iowa Feb. 28. The 10 single-digit losses in conference play have been separated by an average of 5.2 points.
ALL CLASS | D.J. Newbill was named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, an accolade presented annually to the senior student-athlete with high accomplishments in all four areas of classroom, community, character and competition. VOTE: bit.ly/Vote4Newbill
UP NEXT | Penn State will close out the regular season on the road at Minnesota, tipping at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on BTN.
THE MATCHUP
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
- The Buckeyes are coming off a 65-61 comeback win over Purdue Sunday. Shannon Scott hit three free throws in the final 24 seconds and D'Angelo Russell scored 28 points to lead Ohio State, which rebounded from a 12-point deficit.
- Ohio State is 21-8 on the season, 10-6 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll released Monday.
- Ohio State is 3-5 in conference action away from Value City Arena, where the Buckeyes defeated Penn State, 75-55, earlier this season.
- In conference action, the Buckeyes have both the second-ranked scoring offense (70.1) and defense (63.1). They are shooting 47 percent from the field.
- Russell is leading the Buckeyes with 19.0 ppg overall and 20.1 in Big Ten play. D.J. Newbill's 19.7 ppg in conference action are second only to Russell. Russell also leads the team in rebounds (5.8) and is second in assists (5.3).
- Sam Thompson and Marc Loving join Russell in double figures with 10.6 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.
SERIES HISTORY
- Ohio State leads the all-time series 33-15 and is 12-7 when playing in University Park.
- 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.
LAST TIME VS. THE BUCKEYES
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Feb. 11, 2015) - D.J. Newbill had 16 points and Brandon Taylor 11 as Penn State fell short in a 75-55 decision on the road at No. 23/21 Ohio State. Sam Thompson scored a career-high 22 points, while Russell, the nation's top freshman scorer, added 17 points, six rebounds and seven assists for Ohio State. The Buckeyes never trailed after streaking to a 9-0 lead early in the game. [RECAP]
LAST TIME IN THE BJC
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]
14-15 NITTANY LIONS vs. THE BUCKEYES
Thirteen players on the roster have seen action vs. Ohio State. D.J. Newbill is the leading scorer in the series with 19.8 ppg, including the highest scoring total in the series with 25 points in the OT win last season in Columbus. Ross Travis leads the team in rebounds with 5.2 after tallying six in the first meeting this season
| PLAYER | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | MISC | POINTS HIGH |
| D.J. Newbill | 4-4 | 19.8 | 4.5 | 3.3 apg | 25, at OSU 1/29/14 |
| Shep Garner | 1-1 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 apg | 9, at OSU 2/11/15 |
| Brandon Taylor | 4-2 | 9.0 | 4.3 | 1.3 bpg | 8, vs. Iowa 2/15/14 |
| Devin Foster | 1-0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 21 mins | 5, at OSU 2/11/15 |
| Julian Moore | 1-0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 12 mins | 4, at OSU 2/11/15 |
| Geno Thorpe | 3-1 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 75%FG | 9, vs. OSU 2/27/4 |
| Ross Travis | 5-2 | 3.6 | 5.2 | 2 blocks | 5, at 1/25/12, vs. 2/11/15 |
| Jordan Dickerson | 3-2 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 2.7 bpg | 4, at OSU 1/29/14 |
| Donovon Jack | 4-1 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 3 assists | 5, vs. OSU 2/27/14 |
| Alan Wisniewski | 2-0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 block | 2, at OSU 2/11/15 |
| Payton Banks | 1-0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 14 mins | 1, at OSU 2/11/15 |
| Kevoin Montminy | 1-0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| John Johnson | 1-0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
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THREE 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. [RECAP]
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) - Despite double figure scoring from four Nittany Lions, Penn State men's basketball came up short in an 81-77 OT loss to Iowa Saturday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center.
D.J. Newbill scored 19 points for Penn State (15-14, 3-13), which has lost 10 Big Ten games by nine points or fewer. Shep Garner added 17 points, Geno Thorpe 14 and Ross Travis 10 for the Nittany Lions.
Iowa's Aaron White scored 21 points, including six free throws in overtime, and the Hawkeyes were able to scrape past Penn State. Mike Gesell (14), Gabriel Olaseni (12), Josh Oglesby (12) and Jarrod Uthoff (11) also scored in double figures for the Hawkeyes (19-10, 10-6 Big Ten), who were 25 of 27 from the free-throw line.
White's steal of a D.J. Newbill in-bounds pass with 30 seconds left in overtime swung momentum the Hawkeyes' way, as did his free-throw shooting. Penn State committed 15 turnovers. [RECAP]
UP NEXT
Penn State will close out the regular season on the road at Minnesota, tipping at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on BTN. The Nittany Lions have been the Gophers' Senior Day opponent in each of the last two seasons.
Minnesota is 17-12 on the season and 6-10 in the Big Ten, coming off an overtime win at Michigan State last week. The Gophers take on Wisconsin at home Thursday before hosting the Nittany Lions.
Andre Hollins leads the team with 14.7 ppg overall and 15.4 in league play. Maurice Walker and Carlos Morris join Hollins in scoring in double figures with 11.7 and 11.3 ppg, respectively. Walker is the team's leading rebounder with 6.3 rpg.
Penn State defeated the Gophers, 63-58, Jan. 28 in the Bryce Jordan Center. D.J. Newbill led the team with 12 points.