COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Fans at the Value Center Arena were jumping up and down, excited, relieved, and showing more enthusiasm for a Penn State-Ohio State men's basketball game then anyone could have foreseen.

Unlike any other Big Ten team, the Buckeyes couldn't hit threes against the Nittany Lions, as they shot 1-for-8 from three in the first half. For some reason -- one that Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis can't even really tell you -- his team kept it close.

"I don't know. I guess I'm such a good zone coach. We are last in the Big Ten in every category," DeChellis said sarcastically. "Why it works against these guys, other guys it doesn't, I don't know. I wish I could give you a more provocative answer."

After holding a lead going into halftime, staying on top through long stretches of the second half, and never falling behind by double-digits until late in the game, Penn State (10-16, 1-12 Big Ten) might have earned another moral victory while losing last night, 68-60, to the Buckeyes in Columbus.

Ohio State's Jamar Butler hit 3-of-5 from three in the second half, accumulating 18 points during the course of the game, and freshman center Greg Oden contributed with 17 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks.

The Buckeyes (25-3, 13-1) rolled to their 12th consecutive win.

"You can't take anything away from Ohio State," said senior guard David "Mooch" Jackson, who scored 14 points. "They're the No. 1 team in the country. We had them, a couple plays here, a couple plays there, and we could have won. We played very well."

Penn State scratched, clawed, and didn't get knocked out early, but it still lost their 12th game in a row. Geary Claxton scored 15 points, and Danny Morrissey, with 11 points, hit double-figures scoring for the second time in the last 10 games.

After the game, Ohio State head coach said, similar to last week, that Penn State was the best "1-12 Big Ten team he has ever seen," after another scare like the two-point win his team captured last Wednesday against the Lions.

"Those kids played hard," Ohio State head coach Thad Matta. "Every time we seem to play them, they are carefree on the threes, they hit a couple tough ones down the stretch. We were fortunate to get the win."

The arena was packed with red, expecting a blowout, and the Buckeyes could easily be considered the top team in the country after No. 1 Wisconsin was dethroned the night before.

Within the first minute, Penn State was without starting point guard Ben Luber, who left with a left wrist injury, which Luber said after the game was not serious. Junior Mike Walker, who missed a last-second three to beat the Buckeyes a week ago, filled in for Luber and shot 1-for-7 from the floor, hitting only 1-out-of-5 three-point attempts.

At halftime leading 27-24, Penn State had avoided the knockout punches, holding Ohio State to 36 percent shooting, and sophomore Milos Bogetic hit two corner threes, contributing to five Penn State threes in the first half.

After another close game against the last-place Lions, Ohio State reporters questioned Matta on his strategy, and he wondered if they were making too much about the fact that Oden only had nine shot attempts.

He brought up a pertinent point. His team's winning.

"That's a pretty good issue," Matta said. "We are 25-3, we are doing a couple things well here. Yeah, I'd like to get it to him the ball a little bit more. You are sitting there like I don't know what the hell I'm doing."