Penn State ended up having an up-and-down week during what’s been an up-and-down season thus far.
Less than four days after Penn State upset No. 11 Wisconsin at the Bryce Jordan Center to get the biggest win of the Mike Rhoades era thus far, Penn State fell behind early at Ohio State and never recovered, losing 79-67.
Former Penn State player Evan Mahaffey shined for his new team, scoring 16 points. Roddy Gayle Jr. matched that with 16 for Ohio State. Jameson Battle added 11 and Zed Key added 10. For Penn State, Puff Johnson had 13, Nick Kern 12 and Ace Baldwin 10.
Ohio State (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten) scored the game’s first 16 points. Jameel Brown scored Penn State’s first basket 7:03 into the first half. Ohio State led 18-3 at the under-12 media timeout.
Penn State’s (9-10, 3-5) leading scorer, Kanye Clary, didn’t score until more than halfway through the first half.
Clary, who came into the game fourth in the Big Ten in scoring average, putting up more than 19 a game, didn’t have a great day by his standard. He ended with 13 points on 5-for-13 shooting.
At the third media timeout, Ohio State led 24-11.
The game held steady for the next several minutes, and with less than four minutes to go in the first half, Ohio State led 26-14.
Penn State went into halftime down 33-19, making just two of 19 two-point shots. Ohio State’s Roddy Gayle Jr. led all scorers with 10 points. Ohio State kept its 14-point lead through the first media timeout of the second half, holding a 41-27 advantage. With 12:23 left, Ohio State stretched its lead to 52-31, effectively putting the game to bed.
PSU has some time until its next game, which is scheduled for 6:30 next Saturday against Minnesota at the Bryce Jordan Center.
