Feb 13, 2005 3 min read

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – After not hitting a single 3-pointer in its last trip to Penn State, Ohio State more than made up for it this time around. Matt Sylvester scored 15 points off the bench and the Buckeyes shot better than 40 percent (11-for-27) from behind the arc as Ohio State defeated Penn State 66-56 on Saturday.

It was the fifth win in six games for the Buckeyes (17-8, 6-5 Big Ten), who got a 3-pointer from Sylvester with 3 minutes remaining to put them up 58-47, effectively sealing the game.

“I’ve been putting up a lot of shots this season – that’s how our coaches are,” Sylvester said. “They stress putting up a lot of shots in practice and it’s really paid off. When I get open looks, I knock it down.”

Sylvester hit big 3-pointers on two of those open looks, preventing the Lions from staging a comeback in the second half. The first came after Claxton scored six straight points for the Lions to cut the Buckeyes’ lead to 35-32. Ohio State came back down the court and Tony Stockman found a wide-open Sylvester in the corner for an uncontested 3-point shot. Sylvester also scored on an assist from J.J. Sullinger to end any suspense with three minutes to play.

Ohio State also got 13 points from Je’Kel Foster and 12 from Terence Dials.

Geary Claxton and Travis Parker scored 14 each for the Nittany Lions (7-16, 1-9) and Aaron Johnson chipped in 10 points.

The Lions kept things close for most of the second half, repeatedly pulling within one basket, but were unable to get a stop when they needed it most. After Danny Morrissey hit two free throws to pull the Lions within two at 42-40, the Buckeyes countered with 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to go ahead 51-42 with just under eight minutes to play.

The win was something of a statistical oddity for the Buckeyes, who were outrebounded by two, turned the ball over nearly twice as many times, took 20 fewer shots and were without leading scorer Dials for much of the final nine minutes because of foul trouble.

“I felt like we continued to defend and I think that was the difference,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “Terence goes out with four fouls and we’re up two and Matt Sylvester came in and really gave us a good boost there.”

Scoring was at a premium early on for both teams, and they combined on 21 straight possessions without a field goal over an eight-minute stretch spanning both halves.

The Lions had chances to pull even or take a lead in the first half, but were unable to hit a field goal in the final 6:26 before halftime. Penn State shot just 8-of-27 in the opening frame but only trailed 27-22 heading into the second half.

“They hit every big shot they needed to make,” Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. “That’s a credit to them. We missed some shots. We got 70 shots off to 50, only turned it over seven times – we just couldn’t make a basket.”