Bates-Diop, Ohio State crush Penn State

By MARCUS HARTMAN

The Associated Press
January 26, 2016 at 3:38AM
Ohio State forward Mickey Mitchell blocked the shot of Penn State forward Deividas Zemgulis during the second half Monday.
Ohio State forward Mickey Mitchell blocked the shot of Penn State forward Deividas Zemgulis during the second half Monday. (Brian Wicker — Columbus Dispatch/TNS/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Keita Bates-Diop scored 22 points and Ohio State beat Penn State 66-46 on Monday night.

The Buckeyes (13-8, 5-3) led for all but 36 seconds of the game.

Bouncing back from a scoreless game at Purdue four days earlier, Bates-Diop found his shooting stroke early against the Nittany Lions. He scored 13 points in the first half, including a three-pointer less than three minutes in that put Ohio State on top for good.

Bates-Diop finished the night 8 of 14 from the field, including 4-for-7 from long range. Jae'Sean Tate scored 15 points for Ohio State, while Marc Loving added 11.

Brandon Taylor led Penn State (11-10, 2-6) with 11 points.

Ohio State harassed the Nittany Lions into a 33 percent shooting night. The visitors particularly struggled from three-point range, going 4 of 25 (16 percent).

The Buckeyes outscored the Nittany Lions 8-0 while holding them scoreless for more than seven minutes midway through the first half.

That was part of a 12-minute span in which Ohio State outscored Penn State 22-8 to take a 29-14 lead.

But the Nittany Lions recovered, using a 12-4 advantage in the last five minutes of the first half to go to the locker room trailing by only seven.

Ohio State's 33-26 halftime lead could have been larger if not for 10 turnovers that Penn State converted into 10 points.

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MARCUS HARTMAN