Looking to get back to .500 in conference play after two consecutive wins, the Buckeyes head to Penn State to face the Nittany Lions.
Looking to continue their recent momentum and get back to .500 in Big Ten play, Ohio State (12-8, 4-5 B1G) kicks off a two-game road trip tonight against Penn State (13-8, 3-7 B1G). The Buckeyes are on a two-game win streak as they head into Thursday’s matchup.
The Nittany Lions, for their part, are hoping to snap a two-game skid. Still, both games were close losses (76-75 against Iowa, 76-72 against Michigan) in a narrative that should sound familiar to Buckeye fans, who watched their own team drop three consecutive games by two points or fewer earlier this month.
Last season, the teams split their meetings, with the Nittany Lions erasing an 18-point deficit to win, 83-80, in the first game. The two teams last met on Jan. 20, 2024, in a 12-point win for the Buckeyes — one of the team’s two wins in a rough January. It was also one of the team’s final victories under head coach Chris Holtman before his midseason firing, making way for current head coach Jake Diebler to step into the role late last season.
The game marks a bit of a homecoming for Ohio State assistant coach Talor Battle, who played for Penn State from 2007-11 and is the Nittany Lions’ all-time leading scorer. OSU junior guard Evan Mahaffey is also a transfer out of Penn State, who put up a career-high six assists in the first game against his former team last season, and a career-high 16 points in the second meeting, helping propel the Buckeyes to victory.
Preview
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After losing three consecutive games by a combined total of just five points, Ohio State managed to turn things around with a 73-70 road win over then-No. 11 Purdue, an exciting upset for a Buckeye team that had fallen just short against then-No. 15 Oregon and then-No. 24 Wisconsin.
Ohio State followed that road win at Purdue — their first in West Lafayette since 2018 — with an 82-65 win over Iowa earlier this week in Columbus, snapping the Buckeyes’ three-game home skid.
Against the Hawkeyes, the Buckeyes managed to contain Iowa’s typically explosive offense, holding them to just 39.3 percent shooting and a season-low 65 points in OSU’s first comfortable win since they played Indiana State at the end of December. Heading into the game, Iowa had the highest-scoring offense in the Big Ten — the fourth-best in the country — averaging 86.8 points per game.
Both teams struggled to knock down shots in the first half. They shot a combined 37.5 percent overall before the break, though the Buckeyes took a 30-26 advantage into halftime. OSU found its fire during the break though, opening the second half with an 11-1 run and extending their lead to as much as 20 points.
Micah Parrish led for the Buckeyes with 18 points, 11 of which came in the Buckeyes’ dominant second half, along with six rebounds. Bruce Thornton added 15 points and eight rebounds.
Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. were each good for 12 points, plus eight rebounds for Royal and eight assists for Mobley.
In addition to Thornton’s team-leading 17 points per game, Royal, Mobley and Parrish all have scoring averages in double-digits (13.8 ppg, 12.3 ppg, and 11.5 ppg respectively). Royal leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.
On the other side, the Nittany Lions started the season hot, carrying a 12-2 record into the first week of January. But they followed a tough loss to Indiana with three consecutive games against ranked opponents, and they’ve dropped six of their last seven. Their lone win since Jan. 5 came against a 10-10 Rutgers team.
In their last outing on the road in Ann Arbor, Penn State led Michigan, 70-67, with under four minutes remaining in the game, but the Nittany Lions missed their last four shots, while the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to edge Penn State, 76-72.
The Nittany Lions now sit near the bottom of the Big Ten standings. They return home, hoping the friendly environment will help them snap their current two-game losing streak.
Six players for the Nittany Lions are averaging in double-digit scoring this season. They are led by guard Ace Baldwin Jr., with 14.3 points. Baldwin’s team-leading 7.9 assists per game puts him at fourth in the nation. He is followed by Nick Kern Jr. with 13.0 points per game and forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser with 12.3 ppg and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds per game.
Zach Hicks, Puff Johnson and Freddie Dilione V are averaging 11.7, 10.2 and 10.1 points per game, respectively.
Penn State has the 20th-best scoring offense in the country, averaging 83.2 points per game and scoring 80-or-more in 14 games this season.
Prediction
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OSU and Penn State match up fairly evenly this year, though one intangible the Buckeyes should be aware of is that the Nits have been overdue for a win in much the same way Ohio State had been, heading into their victory at Purdue.
Still, while Penn State’s offense is steady and consistent, the Buckeyes got it done against an even better Iowa offense, albeit in a more friendly environment. The Nittany Lions won’t make it easy, though — they’re 11-1 at home. Ohio State will have to continue its recent momentum and shut down Penn State’s offense if they want to secure this win.
The Buckeyes will also need to hold onto the ball. Royal in particular has struggled with turnovers of late (he had two quick ones in the first half against Iowa, among other recent slip-ups), and the Nits are quick to capitalize, turning these defensive opportunities into offensive success. They are forcing 15.5 turnovers per game, putting them in the top 25 in the nation.
If Ohio State can prevent sloppy errors and shut down Penn State’s defense, it bodes well for the Buckeyes, though this will likely be a tight one that plays out in the final few minutes.
At this point in the season, every game is a must-win if you want to dance in March. For the Buckeyes in particular, this game is followed by a tough road game at No. 18 Illinois, making the stakes even higher in State College.
But truthfully, both of these teams have a lot riding on this matchup as Selection Sunday continues to creep closer and they attempt to course-correct after some setbacks, so don’t expect either of them to go down without a fight. All signs point to a thriller in State College.