Penn State sweeps Ohio State

Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.

Penn State coach Patrick Chambers didn’t think it was the matchup or the fact that it was Senior Night that allowed his Nittany Lions to beat Ohio State again.

No, it was something more basic.

“I think we were mad,” Chambers said, emphasizing that his team had been thumped by Iowa and Nebraska in its previous two games. “It just happened to be Ohio State tonight. We came out and played desperate and with a sense of urgency. And we played angry.”

D.J. Newbill scored 23 points, Tim Frazier added 16 and Penn State held off a late rally by No. 22 Ohio State for a 65-63 victory Thursday.

The Buckeyes (22-7, 9-7 Big Ten) had a chance to win at the end. Coming out of a timeout with 6.8 seconds left, Lenzelle Smith Jr.’s 3-pointer rimmed out. The Nittany Lions (14-14, 5-10) grabbed the rebound and time expired.

Ohio State was led by LaQuinton Ross, who scored 19 points. Aaron Craft, plagued by foul trouble most of the game, added 10.

“It was one of those games where two guys pound the ball off the backboard and it bounces out and they make a 3 on us,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “Little things like that is kind of the way the game went.”

Penn State swept the season series. The Nittany Lions upset then-No. 23 Ohio State 71-70 in overtime on Jan. 29 in Columbus.

Nittany Lions forward Donovan Jack made a turnaround jumper, was fouled and hit the free throw to give Penn State a 60-55 lead with 1:59 to go.

Ross and Craft each made a pair of free throws, sandwiched around two by Frazier, to pull the Buckeyes to 62-59 with just more than a minute to go.

Frazier pushed Penn State’s lead to five with 39.4 seconds left with a pair of free throws.

After Ross made two more free throws, Shannon Scott stole the inbounds pass and passed to Trey McDonald for a layup that cut it to 64-63.

Penn State missed two free throws on the ensuing possession, but Smith’s shot caromed off the rim and over the backboard, giving the Nittany Lions the ball back with under 10 seconds left.

Frazier was fouled and made one of two at the line, setting up Smith’s last-second attempt from 3-point range.

“When we executed what we were supposed to do, it was amazing what happened. We didn’t have the flow that we normally do,” Matta said. “That was the difference. We talked about it and talked about it. We couldn’t get it to where we needed it.”

Frazier, a senior point guard, is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, given annually to a student-athlete with notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.