Curtain Goes Down on St. John Arena – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/28/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 1998
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Penn State defeated Ohio State, 89-85, Saturday in the final collegiate game in St. John Arena in front of 13,276 fans that included Hall of Fame coach Fred Taylor and 127 former Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU moves into the new 19,500-seat Jerome Schottenstein Center next year.
Joe Crispin hit two three-point field goals, the second with 34 seconds to play giving PSU an 85-80 lead, and Pete Lisicky hit six-of-six free throws in overtime to cement the win. Lisicky finished with a team-high 24 points.
Michael Redd clinched the Big Ten Conference scoring crown – the first ever freshman scoring champion in the Big Ten’s history – with a career-high 32-point effort to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. Carlos Davis, in his final home game, scored 14 and dished seven assists. Jon Sandersonk scored 12 and grabbed a game high 10 rebounds.
OSU led 39-36 at halftime and then built a 14 point lead in the second half (55-41 with 14:18 left to play). But the Nittany Lions came roaring back behind a 15-2 run to get to within one (57-56 with 9:49 to play). OSU promptly went up by nine, 69-60, but once again the Nittany Lions came back, finally tieing the score at 76 – and forcing the overtime – on a Calvin Booth baseline jumper.
At halftime, the 127 returning Buckeyes, including Jim Jackson, Jim Cleamons, Allan Hornyak, Bill Hosket and Larry Siegfried to name some of the more prominent, were introduced and formed a ring around the perimeter of the court. And then, with the crowd on its feet and cheering madly, Hosket and Denny Meadors pushed Fred Taylor in his wheel chair to center court where he received a rousing ovation for several minutes.
Ohio State concluded its 42nd season in St. John Arena with an alltime record of 426-151.
