COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penn State men's basketball team won its third-straight game with a gritty 75-71 road victory at Ohio State Thursday night.
Jalen Pickett scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the final 7:15 as Penn State closed the back-and-forth game on a 14-8 run and limited the Buckeyes to just four field goals in the final 7:30.
Pickett finished with 23 points, 21 of which were scored in the second half after battling first-half foul trouble. Seth Lundy tallied 19 points and five rebounds in another efficient performance, while Camren Wynter had a huge game with 18 points and six rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Six early points from Lundy helped the Nittany Lions get out to a 12-8 lead just over three minutes into the game. The Buckeyes scored the next five to jump ahead 13-12 before a Wynter step-back was followed by back-to-back Evan Mahaffey layups to put the Nittany Lions ahead 19-13 with 12 minutes left on the first-half clock.
- Ohio State eventually pulled back ahead by one at 24-23 four minutes later before a back-and-forth final eight minutes of the first half. Wynter scored Penn State's final five points of the half and the Nittany Lion defense held OSU scoreless for the final 2:08 as the score was knotted up at 37-37 heading into the locker room.
- A 10-5 Penn State run that was powered by seven Jalen Pickett points from the 16:42 to 13:59 mark of the second half gave the Nittany Lions a 55-49 edge six minutes into the stanza.
- The Buckeyes responded with an 8-0 streak over the next two-plus minutes before back-to-back Wynter buckets snapped the streak and put the score at 59-57 with 10:05 to play.
- OSU was ahead 63-61 three minutes later before Pickett scored all nine points of a 9-2 Penn State streak and the Nittany Lions held the Buckeyes scoreless for a four-minute stretch to grab a 70-65 lead with 2:59 left on the clock.
- The Buckeyes scored the next two baskets to pull within one at 70-69 with 1:24 left. Pickett stepped up with a massive and-one at the 59 second mark to give Penn State a four-point cushion at 73-69.
- The Buckeyes made a jumper before Pickett hit two free throws with 28 seconds left. The Nittany Lion defense held strong on the final possession despite a flurry of Ohio State offensive rebounds to walk away with the 75-71 win.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State earned its third-straight win and second-straight road win. The Nittany Lions are now 17-11 overall and 8-9 in Big Ten play.
- The Nittany Lions tallied their Penn State single-season record 295th 3-pointer of the season with Camren Wynter's triple at the 17:29 mark of the first half. The previous program record stood with the 2017-18 team's 294 treys through 39 games played (NIT Champions). The 2022-23 Nittany Lions set the new benchmark in just their 28th game of the season.
- The Nittany Lions finished the game with 10 triples on a 52.6 percent (10-19) clip from downtown.
- Penn State limited the damage from behind the arc, keeping Ohio State to a 34.8 percent effort from downtown, under its season average of 35.8 percent.
- Penn State secured back-to-back Big Ten road victories for the first time since Feb. 23, 2021 and March 7, 2021 when it defeated Nebraska and Maryland.
- Jalen Pickett posted his third-straight 20-point game and has scored 96 points in the last three games combined.
- Seth Lundy has now scored in double figures in all but three games this season.
- Camren Wynter made a season-high four 3-pointers and finished 7-for-12 from the field and 4-for-5 from deep for his 18 points.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
UP NEXT
- Penn State returns home to host Rutgers Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Fans are encouraged to wear white.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.