Danger? Desperate Penn State can save season tonight

By foxsports
Published

By Zac Jackson
FOX Sports Ohio
March 1, 2011


The Ohio State Buckeyes are No. 1 again and on the brink of clinching the Big Ten title.

Tonight, they're also Penn State's ticket.

The Nittany Lions are on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but a signature win to start the final week of the regular season could change that. Considering it's Senior Night in State College for the Big Ten's leading scorer, Talor Battle, it's going to be a hostile, tournament-like atmosphere for a 9 p.m. tip.

And it's not going to be easy.

The Buckeyes (27-2, 14-2) are coming off a laugher over Indiana, but have lost two of their last three road games. They're a win away from clinching at least a share of the conference title and probably have already locked up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but their last true road game of the year will come in front of more than 15,000 who know their team is down to its final shot.

Penn State is also a team that knows it has a shot. PSU pushed the Buckeyes to the limit Jan. 15 in Columbus before Jared Sullinger took over down the stretch and helped Ohio State hold on for a 69-66 win.

Penn State (15-12, 8-8) has never defeated a No. 1 team but does have three top-25 wins this season, all in State College. PSU has lost 14 straight against OSU, including five at home, and its chance to end those streaks starts with Battle.

Battle, who averages 20.5 points per game, has played every minute the last three games. He's six rebounds from becoming the third Div. I player ever to score 2,000 career points, grab 600 rebounds and post 500 assists.

Penn State's other two double-digit scorers, Jeff Brooks and David Jackson, are also seniors. Jackson scored 19 in the first meeting.

OSU clinches the Big Ten title outright if it wins tonight and Sunday vs. Wisconsin, or if Purdue loses tonight vs. Illinois. Penn State is not only on the NCAA Tournament bubble but enters tonight in a virtual three-way tie for fourth place in the conference and is just a half-game from being in seventh place. The top five teams avoid having to play an extra day (Thursday) at the Big Ten Tournament next week in Indianapolis.

The Buckeyes will again count on Sullinger and fellow freshman Aaron Craft, who scored 19 and made Battle work for all of his 15 points in the first meeting.

Penn State has lost four of seven but has lost just one home game in the last eight weeks.

Ohio State flew in Tuesday morning, a departure from its normal routine of traveling the day before a game. With the 9 p.m. start, OSU coach Thad Matta said "there's nothing worse" than waking up at 8 a.m. and still having 13 hours before tipoff.

That could happen during the NCAA Tournament -- specifically during the Final Four. It's a problem the Buckeyes would love to have, but first things first. And they'll have to bring their A-game tonight.