COLUMBUS, Ohio — After plummeting from No. 3 to No. 24 in the past month, the Ohio State Buckeyes were looking to claw their way back up in the national polls. Penn State had other ideas. Guard D.J. Newbill nailed a pull-up jumper over Ohio State guard Aaron Craft with three seconds left in overtime and the Nittany Lions rallied to upset the Buckeyes 71-70 on Wednesday night in a Big Ten game. It was Penn State’s first win in Value City Arena since it opened in 1999 and the first over a Thad Matta-coached team in his 10 years at Ohio State. Newbill led Penn State with 25 points, scoring 17 in the second half and overtime, and forward Brandon Taylor had 19. “I made a quick right-to-left crossover and luckily it went down,” Newbill said. For Penn State, it was their biggest win since upsetting Michigan at home last year. The Nittany Lions entered the game in last place in the Big Ten standings. “Our mindset was to keep chipping away,” Newbill said. “We’ve been there before. Keep playing hard and believing in each other. It’s all about attitude. Coach just told us to keep digging and digging. We struck together and played for each other.” 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. They didn’t get it. “Top 25 teams at home don’t lose these games and we lost,” Ohio State guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. said. Ohio State blew an 11-point lead in the final eight minutes of regulation. “We weren’t the tougher basketball team tonight,” Craft said. “That’s on us. They made big shots, big plays, rebounds…
Continue Reading: Penn State upsets Ohio State in OT (The SportsXchange)
