STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State wanted to limit the scoring of Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas. And for the most part, the Nittany Lions did, holding the Buckeyes’ leading scorer to 11 points. Sam Thompson picked up the slack. Thompson scored 16 points on just seven shots from the field Saturday as the No. 14 Buckeyes defeated the Nittany Lions 65-51 in the Bryce Jordan Center. “Sam was tremendous today,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “I really challenged Sam to play his best basketball. From the standpoint of what he brought to the table today, I couldn’t be happier for him.” Ohio State (15-4, 5-2 Big Ten) shot a modest 44 percent from the field, even after opening the game by making seven of their first 10 field-goal attempts. It held Penn State (8-12, 0-8) to 36 percent shooting. The Nittany Lions, who have lost 18 straight games to the Buckeyes dating back to 2004, made just 4 of 17 3-point shots. “I thought our defense was pretty good,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. “We put a lot of pressure…
Continue Reading: Efficient Thompson leads Ohio State past Penn State (The SportsXchange)
