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.