Ohio State might be undefeated but it hasn't come easy for the Buckeyes who saw yet another Big Ten game come down to the wire as they held off a feisty Penn State squad looking for their 3rd straight win against a ranked opponent.
Penn State came into the contest 3-2 in the Big Ten looking to make their case as a legitimate Big Ten title contender after beating Michigan State and Illinois already this week. Ohio State on the other hand was looking to capitalize on Duke's loss the other night and a chance to take over as the new #1 team in the nation.
For both teams it was a night of unexpected scorers as Penn State saw Tim Frazier score a season high 11 points and Ohio State saw a huge effort from Aaron Craft who scored 19 points and was the catalyst of much of Ohio State's offensive surge.
Penn State did a good job controlling the pace of play in the first half keeping Ohio State from ever taking over the game like they had so many times in past meetings. Headed into halftime a tie game was a victory for the upset minded Nittany Lion team who has not won in the state of Ohio in over 10 years.
The Buckeye's started of the second half strong opening up a 10 point lead forcing Penn State to call a quick timeout before the game got out of hand.
Over the next 10 minutes Penn State was able to take the lead with 2:52 remaining, however back to back And 1's by Jared Sullinger gave the Buckeye's a 3 point lead in the final seconds of the game. Sullinger was a force all game scoring 19 points, although the 3 point shooting of Ohio State was more damaging to the Lion's comeback effort.
Penn State falls to 3-3 in the conference and heads to Purdue for the second meeting of the season while Ohio State extends their undefeated record and heads to Iowa for what ought to be a tune up game for the Buckeye's trip to Illinois later in the week.