From Mirror, wire reports

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Penn State men’s basketball team won its third-straight game with a gritty 75-71 road victory at Ohio State Thursday night in Big Ten play.

Jalen Pickett scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the final 7:15 as Penn State closed the back-and-forth game on a 14-8 run and limited the Buckeyes to just four field goals in the final 7:30.

Pickett finished with 23 points, 21 of which were scored in the second half after battling first-half foul trouble. Seth Lundy tallied 19 points and five rebounds in another efficient performance, while Camren Wynter had a huge game with 18 points and six rebounds.

“He is a one-of-a-kind player,” Wynter said, who had to help with the scoring when Pickett picked up two early fouls. “It’s a blessing to play on the team with him.”

Six early points from Lundy helped the Nittany Lions get out to a 12-8 lead just over three minutes into the game. The Buckeyes scored the next five to jump ahead 13-12 before a Wynter step-back was followed by back-to-back Evan Mahaffey layups to put the Nittany Lions ahead 19-13 with 12 minutes left on the first-half clock.

“These kids loved working on their game. They are hard working guys,” Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “They take their game seriously on the court. This is a group Penn State should be proud of.”

Ohio State eventually pulled back ahead by one at 24-23 four minutes later before a back-and-forth final eight minutes of the first half. Wynter scored Penn State’s final five points of the half and the Nittany Lion defense held OSU scoreless for the final 2:08 as the score was knotted up at 37-37 heading into the locker room.

A 10-5 Penn State run that was powered by seven Pickett points from the 16:42 to 13:59 mark of the second half gave the Nittany Lions a 55-49 edge six minutes into the stanza.

Shrewsberry was happy with the work his smaller lineup was putting in during the moments in which his team made a run.

“Just because of the shooting ability they possess … there is so much shooting on the floor when we go small and Pickett’s ability to post up really helps. We can do so many things out of that lineup. It’s really versatile offensively.”

The Buckeyes responded with an 8-0 run over the next two-plus minutes before back-to-back Wynter buckets snapped the streak and put the score at 59-57 with 10:05 to play.

“He is confident in me when he calls my number and it is my job to make the best play. I want to make the right read,” Wynter replied when asked about Shrewsberry asking him to run the offense at times.

OSU was ahead 63-61 three minutes later before Pickett scored all nine points of a 9-2 Penn State streak and the Nittany Lions held the Buckeyes scoreless for a four-minute stretch to grab a 70-65 lead with 2:59 left on the clock.

The Buckeyes scored the next two baskets to pull within one at 70-69 with 1:24 left. Pickett stepped up with a massive and-one at the 59 second mark to give Penn State a four-point cushion at 73-69.

The Buckeyes, who fell to 11-17 overall, made a jumper before Pickett hit two free throws with 28 seconds left.

The Nittany Lion defense held strong on the final possession despite a fury of Ohio State offensive rebounds to walk away with the 75-71 win.

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Penn State, now 17-11 on the season, returns home to host Rutgers Sunday night at 6:30 p.m.

“We are excited about going home and we know we have to play well,” Shrewsberry said. “There’s no guarantee. Just because we’re home doesn’t mean magic will happen. You have to make it happen. We are looking forward to it. We are hoping everyone is there and that they want to rally behind them.”

PENN ST. (17-11): Njie 2-5 1-1 5, Funk 0-2 0-0 0, Pickett 8-11 5-5 23, Wynter 7-12 0-1 18, Lundy 5-9 5-8 19, Dread 0-3 0-0 0, Mahaffey 2-3 0-0 4, Clary 3-7 0-0 6, Henn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 11-15 75.

OHIO STATE (11-17): Sensabaugh 8-14 2-2 20, Sueing 4-12 1-1 9, Okpara 4-4 0-0 8, Gayle 1-3 0-0 3, Thornton 7-12 2-3 19, Likekele 3-7 0-0 7, McNeil 2-10 0-0 5, E.Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-63 5-6 71.

Halftime–37-37. 3-Point Goals–Penn St. 10-19 (Wynter 4-5, Lundy 4-8, Pickett 2-2, Clary 0-1, Dread 0-3), Ohio St. 8-23 (Thornton 3-7, Sensabaugh 2-4, Likekele 1-1, Gayle 1-2, McNeil 1-8, Sueing 0-1). Rebounds–Penn St. 24 (Wynter 6), Ohio St. 30 (Sueing 10). Assists–Penn St. 9 (Pickett 4), Ohio St. 11 (Sueing, Likekele 4). Total Fouls–Penn St. 10, Ohio St. 11.