Ohio State seeks breathing room in encounter vs. Penn State

Coming off a rare blowout victory was so refreshing that Ohio State looks to duplicate its defensive effort at Penn State on Thursday in University Park, Pa.

The Buckeyes (12-8, 4-5 Big Ten) went 2-3 in a stretch of five games that was decided by a combined nine points. On Monday, they extended a four-point halftime lead into an 82-65 rout of Iowa.

"It felt weird," Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton said. "It felt like too good to be true."

The Buckeyes earned the win by holding the Hawkeyes 20 points under their season average.

"We're showing significant (defensive) growth," Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said. "I do feel like we are getting more and more connected. You're starting to see the experience we're gaining on the job come through with us executing better defensively."

Penn State knows all about playing close games.

Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions (13-8, 3-7), they have been on the wrong side too many times. The latest setback came at Michigan on Monday when the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run in the final two-plus minutes for a 76-72 victory.

The Nittany Lions have lost six of seven games, with five of those losses by single digits.

Penn State guard Nick Kern Jr. said coach Mike Rhoades has been stressing one message during the skid.

"Just keep pushing, just keep being us, show what we're capable of," Kern said. "That's what we've been working on."

The Nittany Lions will rely on balanced scoring with six players in double figures, led by Ace Baldwin Jr. (14.3) and Kern (13.0).

Penn State must be wary of Ohio State's improving freshman guard John Mobley Jr., who had 12 points and a career-high eight assists against Iowa.

"'Juni' is playing a lot of high minutes now. He is getting a lot of experience," Thornton said. "The game is probably slowing down for him. Things tend to slow down and he is probably seeing different reads he didn't see before. If teams sleep on him, he can shoot a wide-open shot."

--Field Level Media