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At then end of the first half, Ohio State had shot only 38% from the field and held a six point advantage over the upstart Nittany Lions of Penn State. For the final 20 minutes, however, Ohio State's offense woke up and scored 42 points and rose their field goal percentage to 51% as the Buckeyes won their second straight Big Ten Tournament.
Penn State had the top two scorers of the game with Talor Battle (24) and Jeff Brooks (19), but the rest of the Nittany Lions team only had 17 points combined on 6-22 shooting. Tim Frazier, who was a major factor in PSU's run at the BTT Title, only scored 5 points on 2-8 shooting; Frazier was plagued by foul trouble throughout the game, and was forced to platoon with Jermaine Marshall, who only scored 4 points.
Ohio State now sits at 32-2 overall and is everyone's favorite to get the Number 1 overall seed today on Selection Sunday (Update: Yeah, they are the overall #1). Meanwhile, Penn State will likely nab a spot in the field of 68; their wins over Wisconsin and Michigan State in the conference tournament made them a lock in the eyes of many bracketologists. (Update: PSU is in, playing the Temple Owls in the first round.)
It's now officially time to gear up for the best tournament in sports. Can the Buckeyes stay hot and get to the Final Four? Can Talor Battle and Co. pull off a shocking upset or two if they indeed make the tournament? The nation will find out soon enough, as the road to the Final Four begins now.
Stat Breakdown
Penn State Ohio State Points Per Minute 1.50 1.78 Points Per Shot 1.07 1.39 2 PT FG% 39.5% 54.3% 3 PT FG% 38.9% 43.8% FT% 100% 60% True Shooting % 50% 59.4% Assists 8 14 Steals 3 2 Turnovers 8 7 BCI (Assists + Steals/ TOVS) 1.38 2.30 Total Rebounds 25 27 Offensive Rebounds 5 7
- Penn State did a good job holding OSU's offense to only 29 points on 38.5% shooting in the first half, much like what the Nittany Lions did to their first three opponents in the tournament. After halftime, though, Ohio State shot 16-25 from the field (64% FG) and built a big cushion as PSU came out flat in the 2nd half.
- Both teams did great in terms of ball control; OSU only had 2 turnovers in the second half to PSU's 3. Where the Buckeyes dominated came on defense and free throw shooting. OSU blocked 8 shots and held Penn State to only 9 foul shots to the Buckeyes' 20.
- Talor Battle and Jeff Brooks led all scorers with 24 and 19 points respectively, but they got almost no help from the rest of the Nittany Lions. Battle scored Penn State's first 8 points before David Jackson hit a lay-up 9 minutes into the first half. Outside of Battle, PSU missed their first 7 shots.
- While Battle and Brooks got their points, it took a lot of shots to get their. The two were 16-34 from the field combined. Fatigue was clearly evident for Battle, who was short on most of his jumpers in the 2nd half.
- Jared Sullinger also started slow in this one, getting his first two shots blocked by Penn State. He finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds though. More interesting was his 10 free throw attempts, which helped out his record for free throw attempts in the Big Ten Tournament.
- How about John Threebler hitting yet another long ball to end the half? He finished 5-8 from the field for an efficient 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block. Just another X-Factor that will be needed if OSU wants to get to the Final Four (By my count, everyone not named Sullinger and Buford is an X-Factor)
Final Verdict
Have you noticed how rushed this got towards the player stats? Well yeah, I've suddenly been tasked with finishing this and then leaving for Springfield, Missouri immediately. I now know that Penn State is playing Temple and is in fact in the Tournament, so congrats to them. Anyways, Ohio State won this by finding their offense in the 2nd half, effectively ending a likely tired Penn State squad. It's now time for both of these teams to gear up for the Big Dance. The best time of the year for sports is officially here!