Joe Crispin kept his promise.

After Saturday's loss to Iowa in the Big Ten home-opener for the Penn State men's basketball team, the senior guard said the Nittany Lions wouldn't blow any more opportunities in close conference games.

With last night's exciting 78-75 win against Ohio State, which came down to a final three-point attempt by Ohio State to try to send the game into overtime, Crispin and the rest of the Lions didn't lie.

Penn State (10-3, 1-2 Big Ten) trailed by three at halftime as Crispin shot poorly from the field and the inside presence of Ohio State (10-5, 1-2 Big Ten), which boasted a 22-6 inside scoring advantage at the half, gave the Buckeyes a 40-37 advantage.

But then the veteran leadership of Crispin, 6-foot-4 guard Titus Ivory, a game-winning block by 6-foot-8 Gyasi Cline-Heard and clutch foul-shooting by Tyler Smith, led the Lions to their first victory of the early Big Ten season.

Although the Lions — who are the best free throw shooting squad in the conference — shot terribly from the charity stripe, the Lions hit the big ones when they needed them. Tyler Smith hit two foul shots to stretch Penn State's lead to three in the final seconds as Ohio State desperately tried to ice him on the line.

Buckeyes center Ken Johnson did everything the talented big man could do not to lose last night's conference matchup.

Calling for the ball down low and forcing the smaller Lions frontcourt to foul and put him on the free throw line was the big man's game plan.

It worked.

Johnson, who was averaging just below 12 points and seven rebounds per game, punched in great numbers as the Ohio State senior scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Buckeyes in the loss.

"We wanted to play him straight up in the first half," Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn said in his post-game radio show. "We didn't want them to make any adjustments in the first half."

Dunn said he was pleased with how Cline-Heard handled the Ohio State big man.

Johnson, who is the Big Ten's leading shot blocker, only could block one shot against Penn State, as Cline-Heard took the ball straight up into the Ohio State center.

"Gyasi did a real nice job of taking it right to him," the sixth-year coach said. "Late in the game we called some plays to get the ball inside and I think that was the difference."

The Lions, once again, had four players in double digits as the Crispins, Ivory and Cline-Heard combined for 61 of Penn State's 78 points.

Although the Buckeyes dominated the inside game, the Penn State backcourt controlled the outside, outscoring Ohio State 39-6. Penn State's bench also narrowly outscored and outrebounded the Buckeyes.

Usually a few point advantage coming from the bench doesn't matter much in the game, but in a conference where so many games come down to the wire it can play a crucial role.

As the game was nip and tuck in the second half, Brandon Watkins' six points, including a 3-point bucket, played a big part in the victory.

Ivory said the Lions victory on the road will give the team that extra hop in their step they will need for the remainder of the Big Ten schedule, which gets back underway at 8 p.m. Saturday at The Bryce Jordan Center.

"Everybody came in and stepped it up on defense and played great post defense," the senior guard said. "It's a huge win for us. It's going to boost our confidence."