How did Ohio State turn an 18-point lead into a loss at Penn State? Four takeaways
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – There were reasons and there were adjectives used after Ohio State played Penn State on Saturday night.
Inside the Bryce Jordan Center, the Buckeyes were about 15 minutes away from a seventh straight win, a likely spot in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday and a whole boatload of momentum for a week layoff in between games. Then in the final 15:14, the Nittany Lions grabbed eight offensive rebounds and outscored the Buckeyes 46-25 the rest of the way to turn an 18-point Ohio State lead into an 83-80 Penn State win.
After having scored 37 points in the first 14:46, Penn State more than doubled that the rest of the way.
“I think the glass and the effort plays is probably where we just weren’t good enough,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “And I don’t think we were nearly aggressive enough against the zone.”
Those are the primary reasons the Buckeyes harped on after the loss. They are the black-and-white numbers, the forensic report on the type of loss that has the potential to change the tenor of a season.
Then there are the adjectives.
“I think we got a little lackadaisical,” sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said. “We got satisfied. We had an 18-point lead and we thought the game was over.”
“I can agree with Roddy: the focus level has to be high,” sophomore guard Bruce Thornton said. “It’s got to be to another level when you’re up away. It’s so hard to win these Big Ten games away but you’ve got to win these games to separate who you are as a team and what your team can do in the future.”
"They hit shots," fourth-year center Zed Key said. "Yes, we gave up a lead. Yes, we were a little lazy at the end. We turned the ball over when we shouldn’t have. Some bad plays, but I’m not doubting this team."
Here’s how Ohio State turned what was poised to be an eighth straight win into defeat.
Defensive rebounding let Ohio State down
It’s been one of the primary statistics Holtmann has tracked this season: what is Ohio State’s defensive rebounding rate? As the Buckeyes have tried to turn the page on a porous defensive year a season ago, the coaches have dialed in on preventing second-chance opportunities by cleaning the defensive glass.
Saturday night, Penn State finished with 12 offensive rebounds and an offensive rebounding percentage of 30.0. Through 10 games this year, it is the fifth-highest total allowed by the Buckeyes. The issue was that they came in bunches, and those bunches came as the Nittany Lions started their comeback.
Eight of Penn State’s offensive rebounds were during the final 13:33. Of Penn State’s five possessions with an offensive rebound during this period, four ended with points. The fifth didn’t result in points, but it meant that Ohio State did not have the ball from 2:07 until 1:12 while the score was tied at 74 as first Kanye Clary and then Ace Baldwin Jr. both grabbed misses to extend their team’s possession.
Penn State had two first-half offensive rebounds and Ohio State led 41-29. The Nittany Lions finished with 12, leading to 16 second-chance points, all but two of which were after halftime.
“The second half, we didn’t really have what it took to sustain the effort we did in the first half,” Gayle said. “We really lacked attention to details. We gave up too much offensive rebounds and gave up second-chance points. We could’ve done a better job limiting them to one shot, taking care of the ball.”
Ohio State won the rebounding battle, 43-31, but Penn State won it, 19-17, after halftime. Key had a game-high 11 rebounds, including seven defensive rebounds, but just one of those came in the second half.
“Towards the end, credit to them, they were hitting shots, but we couldn’t get many stops and then we couldn’t grab first-time rebounds and that sparked their run,” said Key, who played 7:15 during the second half.
Defense dried up as Penn State’s bigs hit 3s
Statistically, this was the worst defensive performance of the season for the Buckeyes and the second-best offensive game of the year for the Nittany Lions. Penn State finished with an adjusted offensive efficiency of 117.3 points per 100 possessions, higher than Texas A&M (112.3) and high-powered Alabama (112.0).
Penn State scored 55.4% of its points in 38.0% of the game’s seconds. D’Marco Dunn had 11 of his 16 points in the final 15:14. Kanye Clary scored 10 of his 19 in that stretch. Zach Hicks, a 6-8 forward, had 9 of his 11 and hit two 3-pointers during the run.
“Obviously they picked up their pressure,” Gayle said. “They started going small and playing their shooter at the 5, so he was able to step out of some screens. I know it’s different for Felix and Zed to guard a guy on the wing, especially a shooter shooting the ball like he was. It was an adjustment for us.”
Penn State went 8 for 15 from 3 after halftime (53.3%). For the game, Hicks (2 for 4) and 6-7 forward Leo O’Boyle (4 for 5) combined to go 6 for 9 (66.7%) from 3 while stretching the Ohio State defense.
“It was (O’Boyle) that had the hot hand today, but it wasn’t the real reason why we lost today,” Thornton said. “I feel like this is getting stops and getting the defensive rebound, because they got a lot of second-chance points in that second half. That cuts out, even though he had a good team today, we still have a chance to come out with a victory.”
O’Boyle, a 37.5% 3-point shooter in four seasons at Lafayette, was only 4 for 19 (21.1%) this season.
“They had some guys make shots that really hadn’t up to this point, but that are capable shooters,” Holtmann said. “We knew (O’Boyle) was a better shooter than what he had performed up to this point. Give him credit, making 4 out of 5. That gave their group some momentum.”
The moment got big for a few players
For a while, it seemed that every time Penn State got close, Ohio State had an answer. With the Buckeyes ahead by 18, Penn State used a 14-4 run to get within 59-51 with 11:24 to play before Thornton hit a 3-pointer and Gayle found Key for a slam dunk. It was a quick 5-0 run, but Hicks hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to start an 11-0 run to cut the 64-51 Ohio State lead down to 64-62.
Ohio State got the ball to freshman Scotty Middleton at the rim, where he couldn’t convert but went to the line for two free throws with 7:07 left. He missed the first and hit the second, Hicks answered with a jumper to pull within 65-64 but Gayle swished a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it a four-point lead again and Jamison Battle took a controversial charge on Nick Kern Jr. With the ball and a four-point lead, though, Gayle rushed a shot in the paint and missed.
Tied at 76 with a minute to play, Felix Okpara was called for a moving screen to give Penn State a chance to take the lead. Ace Baldwin was ready, and his 3-pointer with 32.3 left put Penn State ahead for good. It was the first true road game of the season, and Holtmann said that might’ve had an impact on a few players.
“I think their defense speeds you up,” he said. “I think it was a great environment. I give their defense a lot of credit for that, but they made shots. Those guys really made shots. Certainly the things we could control is defending the line better but the glass, and I think our aggressiveness against the zone. That’s where we’ve got to get a lot better.”
Ohio State's 16 turnovers were a season high. So was its 22.6% turnover rate.
This was the first time an Ohio State team with at least 20 assists lost during Holtmann's tenure. The Buckeyes were 15-0 when dishing out at least 20 and finished with 21 against Penn State.
Evan Mahaffey takes loss in homecoming game
As Penn State’s offense kicked into gear, Holtmann tightened his bench during the second half and opted for as much versatility on the court as possible. That resulted in a career-high 31:22 of playing time for Nittany Lions transfer Evan Mahaffey, and he finished with 5 points on 2-of-5 shooting and a career-high six assists. He also tied for the team lead with three turnovers.
“He’s a great kid,” Holtmann said. “Everybody who knows him knows he’s a great kid. He was really focused on the team doing well. You hear stuff from the crowd, but he really focused on just playing well.”
Mahaffey was booed every time he touched the ball. Two Gayle free throws with 4:30 left gave Ohio State a 72-66 lead, but Clary drew a three-point play on Battle to halve the deficit before Mahaffey committed his final turnover on the next possession with 3:45 left. Clary scored again, this time after a Qudus Wahab offensive rebound kept the play alive, and it was back to a one-point game.
“I think Evan did a terrific job,” Gayle said. “It’s never easy to go back home and hear a different tone. Those same students, the same fans were cheering him on last year so it’s kind of hard getting that hate from the same people who used to love you. I think he did a terrific job handling his emotions and going out there and playing basketball.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Four reasons why Ohio State turned an 18-point lead into a road loss
