Gymnast Dave Riordan's prediction was right on target: The Buckeyes just don't miss their routines.

"They usually hit -- especially at Rec Hall," he said before the meet.

Ohio State created a momentum early on that carried it to a 284.8-277.9 victory over Penn State on Saturday.

"Our team hit a higher percentage of their routines at this competition than we ever have before," said Buckeye Assistant Coach Miles Avery, adding that in terms of percentage, Penn State looked good as well.

In the end, minor breaks for the Lions added up.

"We made a lot of little mistakes," freshman J.M. Michel said. "We're going to be doing a lot of refining in the gym."

As a team, improvement will come in terms of consistency and quality, said captain Jim Delaney.

"We're fairly consistent now," he added. "It's just a matter of putting some quality in there."

Highlights for the Lions included solid performances by Riordan. The junior led the team on the floor exercise and parallel bars. On the pommel horse, Riordan shared the Lions' top spot with teammate Tom Ellefson.

"I was motivated by a lot of things," he said. "I had a death in my family recently, and I did it for my grandfather."

While Riordan drew inspiration from his family, the rest of the gymnasts were motivated by each other. With each Lion routine, there was cheering from the sidelines.

"This time around we showed a lot of team spirit with the yelling the whole meet, keeping everybody going," Tony Pansy said.

Even when the team was down in points, they were never down in spirit. They remained focused and continued to push themselves to hit their routines.

"They never let their guard down," Buckeye gymnast Drew Durbin said. "They always kept it up, coming straight at us. They had a really good attitude."

Junior Lee Ricketts wore an expression of intense concentration from the onset. He was stone-faced as he performed five routines, including a fourth-place finish on the high bar.

"It was the best one I've hit while I've been at Penn State," he said. "It was a good feeling to land and stick it at Rec Hall."

For the first time that night, he smiled.