COLUMBUS, Ohio — After losing four of their last five games and plummeting from No. 3 to No. 24 in the past month, the Ohio State Buckeyes were looking to start a new winning streak and claw their way back up in the national polls. Penn State had other ideas. Guard D.J. Newbill hit a jumper over Ohio State guard Aaron Craft with three seconds left in overtime and the Nittany Lions upset the Buckeyes 71-70 on Wednesday night in a Big Ten game. It was their first win in Value City Arena since it opened in 1999. Newbill led Penn State with 25 points and forward Brandon Taylor scored 19. With a trip to No. 14 Wisconsin looming on Saturday, the Buckeyes (16-5, 3-5) needed a win to avoid the possibility of falling out of the national rankings next week for the first time since January 2010 and stay in the upper half of the Big Ten standings. They didn’t get it. Ohio State blew a nine-point lead in the second half. Guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. buried a jumper to give the Buckeyes a 68-65 lead with 3:17 to go in overtime. Penn State would not go away. Newbill scored with 45 seconds left to pull the Nittany Lions to 70-69. Ohio State ran the clock down but failed to come away with points and Newbill came through for Penn State with the clutch basket. The Buckeyes surged ahead 57-48 in the second half on a layup by forward Trey McDonald with 8:29 left. But Penn State (11-10, 2-6) fought back to tie it at 62 on a 3-pointer from the left wing by Newbill with 1:06 left. Craft drove into the lane to hit a twisting shot with 36 seconds left in regulation for a 64-62 lead. Penn State guard Tim Frazier missed two free throws with 28.1 seconds remaining and Ohio State guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. made the second of two foul shots with 27.3 seconds left to boost Ohio State’s lead to 65-62. Newbill answered by drilling a clutch 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 65 and the Buckeyes missed three shots in the final seconds to force overtime. Forward LaQuinton Ross, the Buckeyes’ leading scorer this season, had 16 points and Smith Jr. added 15…
Continue Reading: Penn State 71, Ohio State 70 (OT) (The SportsXchange)
