UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team put together a comeback for the ages as the Nittany Lions shot 61 percent from the field in the second half to erase an 18-point second-half deficit and earn a thrilling 83-80 win over #RV/25 Ohio State Saturday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State caught fire in its 54-point second half, shooting 61 percent from the floor and 53 percent from deep as it constructed its 18-point comeback. Ace Baldwin Jr. cashed in a clutch triple to give the Nittany Lions their first lead of the second half with 32.3 seconds left in the game, helping his team to its first Big Ten win of the season.
Five Nittany Lions scored in double figures, led by Kanye Clary with 19 points. D'Marco Dunn followed with a career-best 16, with Leo O'Boyle (15 points), Zach Hicks (11 points), and Qudus Wahab (10 points) rounding out the top scorers. O'Boyle connected on four triples in the game, his most as a Nittany Lion, fueling the Penn State shooting performance in the second half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Buckeyes started on an 11-4 stretch out of the opening tip, but the Nittany Lions responded immediately with a 10-3 run of their own, with buckets by Clary, O'Boyle, Wahab, and Hicks, to tie the ballgame at 14 with 13:11 to play in the opening half.
- Up by one at the 11:35 mark of the frame, Ohio State went on an 18-7 run to pull ahead by 10 with just over six minutes to play in the first half.
- Penn State hung with Ohio State through the final minutes of the first half but entered halftime trailing 41-29.
- Out of the break, the Buckeyes scored 14 of the first 22 points before the Nittany Lions opened up a 14-4 stretch to get back within eight points of Ohio State at the 11:24 mark of the second half. Threes from D'Marco Dunn and O'Boyle fueled the run.
- The Nittany Lions answered five-straight Buckeye points with a 13-1 run, including 11 in a row, with two triples by Hicks and one more from Dunn. Penn State caught fire and cut the Ohio State lead to just one point with 6:51 to play.
- With 4:30 left, the Buckeyes were able to go back up by six, but an 8-2 run by Penn State, including five-straight by Clary and O'Boyle's fourth three of the game, knotted the score at 74 apiece with less than two minutes remaining.
- Baldwin Jr. connected on a clutch 3-pointer with 32.3 seconds left in the half to break a 76-76 tie and give Penn State its first lead of the second half, a 79-76 advantage.
- A free throw by Hicks with 22 seconds left gave the Nittany Lions a two-point cushion following a pair of Buckeye foul shots. Qudus Wahab was fouled with 7.5 seconds remaining with the Nittany Lions up 80-78 and converted both ends of the 1-and-1 to put Penn State ahead 82-78.
- Ohio State was able to score with four seconds left but it proved too little too late and the Nittany Lions iced the game with a Clary free throw and took home the 83-80 win.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State handed #RV/25 Ohio State just its second loss of the season. The Buckeyes entered the game 8-1 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play.
- Penn State has now won three-straight games against Ohio State, a feat that has only been accomplished twice previously in series history.
- The Nittany Lions snapped their five-game losing streak and earn their first Big Ten conference win of the 2023-24 season.
- The Nittany Lions came back from down 18 points to earn the win over Ohio State, marking the first time Penn State came from down 15+ to win since it erased a 16-point deficit against No. 21 Maryland on March 5.
- With 54 points in the second half, the Nittany Lions recorded 50+ in the final period for the first time since it posted 55 against Canisius on Dec. 18, 2022.
- Penn State had five players score in double figures for the first time since March 18 against Texas in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Nittany Lions forced 16 Ohio State turnovers in the game, the most the Buckeyes have committed in a game this season.
- Junior D'Marco Dunn set a career high with 16 points and tied his career-high with two steals.
- Leo O'Boyle had his best scoring game yet in the Blue & White, posting 15 points in a 4-for-5 effort from the floor. His four threes in the game are also a season best. He added four boards to his final line.
- Kanye Clary entered the game averaging 16.2 points-per-game and scored 19 points on 7-17 shooting against Ohio State. Clary has now hit double figures in eight of the Nittany Lions' 10 games this season.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Mike Rhoades
Leo O'Boyle and Ace Baldwin Jr.
HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT
- Penn State will play Georgia Tech in Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Dec. 16 at noon. The game will air on Big Ten Network.
The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.