National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Ohio St. 79, Penn St. 75
When: 6:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 10, 2016
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: # D.J. Carstensen, # Bill Ek, # Donnie Eppler
Attendance: N/A

Junior forward Marc Loving made 13 of 15 free throws while scoring 24 points to help Ohio State deliver a 79-75 victory over Penn State on Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis.

Freshman guard JaQuan Lyle contributed 22 points, 10 rebounds and five steals for the seventh-seeded Buckeyes (20-12), who face second-seeded Michigan State in Friday's quarterfinals. Sophomore forward Keita Bates-Diop added 14 points as Ohio State won for the sixth time in eight games.

Sophomore guard Shep Garner scored 25 points for the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions (16-16). Senior forward Donovon Jack added 18 points and senior forward Brandon Taylor had 14.

Garner hit two free throws to give the Nittany Lions a 67-66 lead with 4:12 to go before the Buckeyes scored the next seven, the last four by Lyle, to take a six-point advantage. Garner drained a 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left to pull Penn State within 78-75 before Lyle split two free throws with 4.7 seconds to seal it.

Ohio State trailed by five points early in the second half before rolling off 14 straight points. Loving made two 3-pointers during the surge and Bates-Diop drained one to cap the run and give the Buckeyes a 48-39 advantage with 16:33 remaining.

The Nittany Lions fought back within three on a basket by freshman guard Josh Reaves with 15:35 left. Ohio State answered with an 8-2 run to boost the lead to 56-47 with 11:55 left before Penn State cut its deficit back to three on a dunk by sophomore forward Julian Moore with 6:51 to play.

Penn State led by as many as 10 points in the first half en route to a 37-34 lead at the break. A 10-0 burst turned a three-point deficit into a seven-point lead and the Nittany Lions led 35-25 after a 3-pointer by Jack with 4:18 remaining before the Buckeyes closed with a 9-2 run.
Top Game Performances
 
Penn St.   Ohio St.
Shep Garner 25 Scoring Marc Loving 24
Shep Garner 5 Assists JaQuan Lyle 5
Shep Garner 5 Rebounds JaQuan Lyle 10
Donovon Jack 8 Free Throws Made Marc Loving 13
Josh Reaves 2 Steals JaQuan Lyle 3
Jordan Dickerson 1 Blocks Daniel Giddens 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Penn St. 75 44.1 9-22 14-21 10 29 3 5 11
Ohio St. 79 43.6 5-14 26-39 9 34 7 7 12