2/23/2023 basketball Edit

Penn State keeps tournament hopes alive with 75-71 win over Ohio State

Richie O'Leary • Happy Valley Insider

Publisher

With their NCAA Tournament hopes and dreams on the line Thursday night in Columbus, the Nittany Lions had to leave Value City Arena with a victory. It wasn't easy but Micah Shrewsberry's team found a way to do just that, defeating the Buckeyes 75-71 for a much-needed quad one win late in the season.

The victory is Penn State's third straight as they look to make a late season push for the NCAA Tournament.

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The Nittany Lions came out firing on offense and couldn't miss early on as they shot 46.4% from the field and 54.5% from beyond the arc as they went on to score 37 points in the first half. The Buckeyes, however, would go shot-for-shot with the Nittany Lions for most of the first half, as the game would go to halftime tied up at 37-37.

The second half was more of the same as it was a one point game with under a minute left, but luckily for Penn State, they had last week's unanimous national player of the week Jalen Pickett doing what he does best as he put the team on his back in the second half, scoring 21 of his 23 in the final 20 minutes of play to secure the win. On the opposite side, the Buckeyes missed their final five shots, allowing the Nittany Lions to hold onto their slim lead .

In terms of Individual performances, the Nittany Lions were led in scoring by Jalen Pickett who scored 23 points along with three rebounds and four assists but also got solid offensive performances from Seth Lundy who had 19pts, five rebounds and two assists along with Camren Wynter who contributed 18 points, six rebounds and one assist of his own.

Overall this was a big one for Penn State as they continue to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive with their third Quad-1 victory of the season.

NEXT UP....

Penn State has just three games now remaining in their 2023-23 regular season. They're next matchup is scheduled for Sunday at home against Rutgers. The last time the two programs met was a few weeks ago in Piscataway, a 64-45 win for the Scarlet Knights.