Well, the hits just keep on coming. After limping and crawling across the finish line of the regular season, the Ohio State basketball team continued its struggles by losing to No. 11 Penn State 71-68 in its first game in the Big Ten Tournament and will now rest before the NCAA Tournament.
It wasn’t for the efforts of E.J Liddell. He finished the game with 25 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks. Unfortunately for him and OSU, the defense that was so solid in the first half couldn’t corral the Penn State guards that seemed to get points in the paint at will. The Nittany Lions scored 47 points in the second half after scoring just 24 in the first twenty minutes. They shot 62 percent from the field in the second half.
Malaki Branham scored 16 points and Joey Brunk added ten for the only other OSU players in double figures. But it wasn’t nearly enough.
