Saturday, January 20
Columbus, Ohio
Noon
Ohio State
13-5,3-4Big Ten
79
vs
67
Penn State
9-10,3-5Big Ten
1
2
F
Penn St.
19
48
67
Ohio St.
33
46
79
Early Push Leads Buckeyes to 79-67 Win over Penn State
1/20/2024 3:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State opened the game on a 16-0 run and never looked back, beating Penn State 79-67 on Saturday afternoon at the Schottenstein Center.
The Buckeyes snapped a three-game losing streak and are now 13-5 on the season and 3-4 in Big Ten play.
Sophomore Evan Mahaffey, a Penn State transfer, scored a career-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Fellow sophomore Roddy Gayle Jr. matched him with 16 points and had one of his better floor games, dishing out five assists and had just one turnover.
Jamison Battle added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and pulled-down six rebounds. Big man Felix Okpara finished with eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Freshman forward Devin Royal came off the bench and scored eight points on 3-of-3 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the line in just five minutes of action.
Trailing 16-0, Penn State didn't get on the board until seven minutes into the game. The Buckeyes would limit PSU to just 21.9 percent shooting in the first half and would hold the double-digit lead through the first 20 minutes, leading 33-19 at the break.
In the second half, the lead grew to as many as 22 points at 53-31 following a personal 7-0 run by Zed Key. The Bay Shore, N.Y. native finished the game with 10 points and was 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Penn State tried to rally late but would get no closer than nine points down the stretch.
The Buckeyes hit the road for a pair of games next week, starting with a Tuesday night contest at Nebraska.
The Buckeyes snapped a three-game losing streak and are now 13-5 on the season and 3-4 in Big Ten play.
Sophomore Evan Mahaffey, a Penn State transfer, scored a career-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Fellow sophomore Roddy Gayle Jr. matched him with 16 points and had one of his better floor games, dishing out five assists and had just one turnover.
Jamison Battle added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and pulled-down six rebounds. Big man Felix Okpara finished with eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Freshman forward Devin Royal came off the bench and scored eight points on 3-of-3 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the line in just five minutes of action.
Trailing 16-0, Penn State didn't get on the board until seven minutes into the game. The Buckeyes would limit PSU to just 21.9 percent shooting in the first half and would hold the double-digit lead through the first 20 minutes, leading 33-19 at the break.
In the second half, the lead grew to as many as 22 points at 53-31 following a personal 7-0 run by Zed Key. The Bay Shore, N.Y. native finished the game with 10 points and was 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Penn State tried to rally late but would get no closer than nine points down the stretch.
The Buckeyes hit the road for a pair of games next week, starting with a Tuesday night contest at Nebraska.
- Ohio State opened the game on a 16-0 run. This was the second consecutive game in which the Buckeyes had a rare 16-0 run.
- Evan Mahaffey scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also tied his career-high with a pair of blocks.
- Felix Okpara had eight points and was one-shy of his career high with 14 rebounds. This was his fourth game this season and the sixth of his career with 10 or more rebounds.
- Okpara extended his consecutive game streak with a block to 24.
- Devin Royal had a second-consecutive solid game, finishing with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting.
- Dale Bonner had seven points and a season-high six rebounds.
Team Stats
PSU
OSU
FG%
.371
.458
3FG%
.458
.167
FT%
.800
.880
RB
36
43
TO
8
6
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball No videos available.
