Recap: Mobley Makes Eight Threes As Ohio State Strengthens Tournament Resume With Dominant 94-62 Win Over Penn State

Ohio State (19-11, 11-8 Big Ten) had an extremely strong shooting performance in a 94-62 win over Penn State (12-17, 3-15) at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa., on March 4.

The Buckeyes didn’t waste any time in getting out to a huge lead against the Nittany Lions and made 16 three-pointers as a team, eight of them from sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. As a team, OSU shot 69.6 percent from three-point range.

It didn’t take long for the Buckeyes to get out to a lead with freshman forward Amare Bynum making a layup 34 seconds into the game. Senior guard Bruce Thornton made a three-point jumper and senior center Christoph Tilly made a layup for a 7-0 lead just under two minutes into the game.

Penn State scored eight straight points to take an 8-7 lead at 15:32, with seven of those points coming from Ivan Juric.

However, the Buckeyes quickly turned the game around after that, starting with a three-pointer from Mobley. The Nittany Lions made a free throw following Mobley’s three, but Ohio State scored 13 straight points, with Thornton’s five leading the way and another three from Mobley. The Buckeyes held a 23-9 lead with 7:13 left in the first half after that stretch.

But it didn’t stop there for OSU. Following two more free throws for Penn State. Thornton started another run with a layup. Bynum and Mobley both scored three points, Mobley’s coming from another deep ball, as Ohio State put up 10 unanswered points to give itself a 33-11 lead with 3:44 left in the half.

The Nittany Lions had a field goal drought of 13:32, allowing the Buckeyes to get out to that 22-point lead.

However, Ohio State still was able to stretch the lead further in the first half, getting it to 28 points with 1:22 left in the frame thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Mobley and Tilly.

The Buckeyes went into halftime with a 45-21 lead after a last-second tip-in from Bynum. They far outpaced the Lions on the offensive end with their efficiency, making 18 of the 29 shots they put up (62.1 percent) while Penn State made just four field goals the entire half on 22 tries (18.2 percent), with OSU showing off the defensive improvements it has made lately.

The second half began with both teams trading three-pointers while the Nittany Lions tried to claw their way back into the game, but the Buckeyes refused to let that happen. By 15:11, they had taken their biggest lead of the game, 60-31, on another three-pointer from Mobley.

The lead reached 30-plus points for the first time on the next trip down the floor for the Ohio State offense, with Bynum making a jumper to stretch it to 31.

The deficit remained around that level until Mobley made another three to continue his hot-shooting night at 5:50, with Thornton following with a layup to make it an 84-48 game.

Unsurprisingly, after his three-point barrage in State College, Mobley led Ohio State with 28 points with an extremely efficient 9-of-12 shooting performance. He made 8 of 9 shots from beyond the arc, while adding four assists and four rebounds.

Thornton added 18 points on his journey of attempting to become the all-time points leader at Ohio State. If he scores 12 points in the Buckeyes’ upcoming Senior Night season finale against Indiana, he will pass Dennis Hopson for the record.