Penn State Shocks Buckeyes In Big Ten Quarterfinals – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2000
%^$
%^$Postgame Audio
%^$Coach O’Brien Audio%^$
%^$%^$%^$Box Score%^$%^$%^$%^$
%^$
By RICK GANO
%^$AP Sports Writer%^$
CHICAGO – Joe Crispin was dragging. His head was hurting, he was%^$feverish, his energy was zapped and his chest congested from an upper%^$respiratory ailment.%^$
But as the last seconds ticked off the clock and he and his Penn State%^$teammates whooped and hollered as they left the floor at the United Center,%^$Crispin had never felt better.%^$
“You feel tired. Fatigue’s a factor but you find a way to get it done,”%^$Crispin said after helping the Nittany Lions stun top seed and No. 4 Ohio State%^$71-66 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals Friday.%^$
“I don’t care if you play eight days straight, when you’re playing the No.%^$4 team, you can find a way. There’s always something left in the tank.”%^$
Crispin scored seven points in the final 2:20 and Penn State defeated a%^$ranked team for the first time in 10 tries this season, beating one that was in%^$the Final Four last season.%^$
With Scoonie Penn struggling, shooting just 3-of-16 and committing seven%^$turnovers, the Buckeyes (22-6) suffered a loss that could cost them a top seed%^$in the NCAA tournament.%^$
“It’s really easy for us to brush this off: `Oh we lost in the (Big Ten)%^$semifinals last year and still went to the Final Four.’ That was then, this is%^$now,” Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien said.%^$
“To think we’re going to get a first seed is out of the question at this%^$point. What we need to do is make sure it is not damaging when we play in the%^$NCAA.”%^$
Powerful Jarrett Stephens, the only Big Ten player to average a%^$double-double this season, scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds for Penn State%^$(15-14), which moves into Saturday’s semifinals against Illinois. Titus Ivory%^$added 17 and Crispin had 13.%^$
Penn State, the No. 9 seed, beat Michigan in the first round Thursday. The%^$Nittany Lions had lost twice to Ohio State in the regular season, by 13 in%^$Columbus and six in State College.%^$
“I don’t think we’re really surprised. We came in really confident. We knew%^$it was going to be hard for Ohio State to beat us three times in one season,”%^$Stephens said.%^$
“To be honest, we came in this game knowing we could win,” Crispin said.%^$”We knew we could beat them. We’ve had trouble finishing games off – that’s%^$the story of our whole season – but we did it today and got a huge win.”%^$
George Reese scored 22 for Ohio State, and Michael Redd had 19. But Penn,%^$the Buckeyes’ leader, continued a late-season stretch of cold shooting.%^$
Ohio State closed the regular season with a five-game winning streak,%^$despite 16-of-55 shooting from the senior.%^$
Penn managed just eight points Saturday and was 2-of-14 on 3-pointers. As a%^$team, the Buckeyes were 4-of-26 on 3-pointers.%^$
“I just didn’t put it down today,” Penn said. “It was just one of those%^$days. I kept shooting. I kept getting good looks, so I kept shooting. I made a%^$couple bad decisions that lead to turnovers and that hurt my team.”%^$
Ken Johnson’s follow with 2:41 to go gave the Buckeyes a 59-57 lead. Crispin%^$hit a 3-pointer to put the Nittany Lions ahead before Redd’s two free throws%^$gave the Buckeyes their final lead at 61-60.%^$
Ivory scored in the lane with 1:54 left and Penn State led by one. The%^$Nittany Lions’ Gyasi Cline-Heard then made a steal and called for a time as he%^$was falling out of bounds.%^$
Ivory drove for the basket but his shot went hard off the glass and the 6-7,%^$255-pound Stephens stuffed in a follow shot to give Penn State a 64-61 lead%^$with 1:11 left.%^$
Crispin then hit four straight free throws and his brother, Jon, made 1-of-2%^$around a driving basket by Penn. Redd’s 3-pointer got Ohio State within three%^$at 69-66. But Penn State’s Tyler Smith sank two free throws with 18 seconds%^$left and the Nittany Lions had one of their biggest basketball victories ever.%^$
Penn State had beaten Purdue when it was ranked fifth in 1998.%^$
“It was fun, it was big-time basketball at the end,” Joe Crispin said.%^$”We don’t experience that too often. We kind of got energy from all the%^$Illinois fans who want to play us.”%^$
