Feb. 27, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State hosts Ohio State in the final regular-season home game of the season at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network with Wayne Randazzo and Bob Wenzel on the call.
STORYLINES
- Penn State and Ohio State both sit at 6-10 in Big Ten play with tournament seeding on the line in the final week of the regular season.
- The Nittany Lions are looking to end a three-game losing streak, while the Buckeyes are seeking back-to-back wins in league play after ending their own three-game skid.
- Four players are averaging in double figures for Penn State, led by freshmen Tony Carr (13.2) and Lamar Stevens (12.5).
- Three freshmen are among the top five scorers and are each of top-three rebounders. Carr is averaging 17.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists over the last nine games.
- A freshman leads Penn State in scoring (Carr), rebounding (Watkins), assists (Carr) and blocks (Watkins).
- Tony Carr has a Penn State freshman record 119 assists after producing seven in each of the last two games. He broke the previous record of 112 set in 2004 at Minnesota Saturday.
- Mike Watkins owns the No. 5 spot on the single-season block chart with 75, the most of any PSU player besides Calvin Booth. Booth owns each of the top four spots of the season records.
SETTING THE SCENE
- With a win, Penn State would match the most Big Ten wins (7) under Patrick Chambers and reach at least seven Big Ten wins in back-to-back seasons for just the third time in 25 seasons (1994-95, 1996-97 and 2007-08, 2008-09).
- The Lions have posted seven or more league wins just eight times since joining the Big Ten.
- Six senior managers will be honored pregame vs. Ohio State.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
- The Buckeyes enter the final week of the regular season with a 16-13 overall record and tied with Penn State at 6-10 in the Big Ten.
- They are coming off a 10-point win, 83-73, over Wisconsin at home Thursday ending a three-game losing streak.
- Jae'Sean Tate leads Ohio State with 14.1 points per game. He is one of four players in double-figures. With 9.1 boards per game, Trevor Thompson is the second-leading rebounder in the Big Ten.
- Head coach Thad Matta became Ohio State's record holder for most games coached in a career vs. Wisconsin. Matta's teams have played in 456 games to date (336-121), trailing only Tom Izzo among active Big Ten coaches.
SERIES HISTORY
- Ohio State leads the all-time series 35-15 and is 13-8 when playing in University Park.
- The last meeting between the teams was in the second round of the 2016 Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. Penn State battled back from a nine-point second-half deficit before falling 79-75.
- Penn State dropped the lone regular-season meeting last season between the teams this season, a 66-46 decision Jan. 25 in Columbus.
- The Nittany Lions have two wins in the last six meetings.
- Penn State snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Buckeyes in 2013-14, sweeping the season series for the first time since 1998.
CURRENT ROSTER VS. OHIO STATE
Six players on the current roster have taken the court against Ohio State. Shep Garner averages 12.5 points per game in four career meetings with a current player series-high 25 points in the Big Ten tournament matchup last season.
Player | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | SERIES HIGH |
S. Garner | 4-3 | 12.5 | 4.0 | 25, vs OSU (3/10/16) |
J. Reaves | 1-1 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 6, vs OSU (3/10/16) |
D. Zemgulis | 1-0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 5, at OSU (1/25/16) |
J. Moore | 4-1 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4, at OSU (2/11/15) |
P. Banks | 4-2 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 9, at OSU (1/25/16) |
I. Washington | 2-0 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 1, vs OSU (3/10/16) |
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BUCKEYES
INDIANAPOLIS (March 10, 2016) - No. 10-seed Penn State men's basketball came up short in close 79-75 loss to seventh-seeded Ohio State in the second round of the 2016 Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Trailing by as many as nine in the second half, 56-47 Penn State used a 20-10 scoring streak to re-take the lead, pulling ahead 67-66 with 4:12 remaining. Following a triple from Shep Garner, the Nittany Lions managed to trim the deficit to three, 78-75, once more with five seconds remaining but came up short in the final seconds.
Three Nittany Lions logged double digit scoring performances, led by a team-high 25 points from Shep Garner. Donovon Jack finished second on the team with 18 points while Brandon Taylor added 14 to round out the group.
OTHER MEMORABLE MATCHUPS
Jan. 29, 2014 (PSU, 71-70 ot) - 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 an 18-game losing streak vs. the Buckeyes.
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.
LOOKING AHEAD
Penn State closes out the regular season at Iowa Saturday, tipping off at 1 p.m. ET from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network. It is the lone meeting between the teams this season after splitting last season's matchups. The Nittany Lions defeated then-No. 4/6 Iowa 79-75 Feb. 17, 2016 in the last meeting in the Bryce Jordan Center.