PSU now shows a full court press, but OSU has little trouble advancing the ball. A foul on Cornley sends Turner to the line for a 1-and-1. Turner sinks both and the lead is 11.

Both Pringle and Morrissey miss 3-pointers and things aren't looking good for the Lions. Pringle picks up his third foul, and Mullens now has a 1-and-1 opportunity. He makes the first and misses the second, but OSU grabs the offensive board. That's just a huge play.

3 points for Diebler. Good night.

Pringle banks in a runner but this one appears out of reach. The clocks rolls under a minute Madsen delivers the dagger from deep. 72-57 Buckeyes.

Jones scores and Battle fouls Hill with 39 seconds left. Hill makes 1-of-2 and Pringle air balls a 3 at the other end. That'll do it folks.

FINAL SCORE
OHIO STATE 73, PENN STATE 59

***
Let's set things up here:
Ohio State 59, Penn State 52
3:53 to play
Penn State has 7 fouls, Ohio State 6
Penn State has 2 timeouts left, Ohio State 4
Possession arrow favors the Buckeyes

Evan Turner is at the line for a 1-and-1. The first bounces around and falls in, and the second is also good. 60-52 Bucks.

Penn State saves time now as Morrissey rolls the ball up the floor to Battle. Evan Turner picks up his fourth foul, which also sends Battle to the line for 1-and-1. He misses the front end but OSU deflects the rebound out of bounds. The amount of missed 1-and-1 opportunities this year is staggering.

Simmons drains a 3 for Ohio State, and Lions are in trouble now down 12. Battle with a nice skip pass to Pringle, and Pringle hits the open 3.

3:06 second half
Ohio State 64, Penn State 55

***
Danny Morrissey finally stops the bleeding as he drills a fade-away 3 from the corner to end about a 5-minute scoreless streak.

Media timeout

3:53 second half
Ohio State 59, Penn State 52

***
Mullens misses a turnaround hook shot out of the timeout and the ball is deflected out off of the Buckeyes. Morrissey squares up and gets a good look from beyond the arc but comes up empty. Penn State's last points came at the 9:04 mark when Morrissey hit a 3.

And the great Ed Hightower strikes again and calls a shooting foul on Battle. Battle is not pleased to say the least. Now the referees are discussing it, and probably cluing in Hightower as to what actually happened. Now apparently they're reviewing this.

This is just awful. It's still apparently a shooting foul, as for the 900th time Hightower holds up 2 fingers.

Mullens steps to the line and hits both. The Buckeyes can sound Mr. Hightower a thank you basket later.

Battle launches a 3 and misses everything. He really needs to regain his composure after that foul. 2 more for Mullens and the lead is up to 10. 11-0 OSU run.

4:26 second half
Ohio State 59, Penn State 59

***
The sounds of "Hang On Sloopy" fill the arena now as Ohio State is on a 7-0 run. Penn State really needs to collect itself on offense again and get a bucket here out of the timeout.

Instead Battle turns it over after some solid ball movement and Ohio State patiently brings it up the court. Cornley is called for a push and we have a media timeout now.

6:31 second half
Ohio State 55, Penn State 49

***
Mullens with a terrific follow for 2 as the more-than-a-foot-shorter Talor Battle didn't stanad much of a chance.

Jeramie Simmons hits a wide open 3 from the corner and Ohio State re-takes hte lead at 48-46. The arena is rocking once again.

But Morrissey quiets the crowd as he replaces Pringle and hits a 3 of his own from the corner. The lead goes back to the Lions.

And Simmons answers right back for 3. 51-49 Buckeyes as we go back and forth.

Cornley drives and falls hard as he draws a foul on Madsen. 2 shots for Jamelle, and he misses the first with "air ball" chants still filling the arena. The second is short. PSU simply can't afford to leave points at the line.... or not box-out on defense as Turner picks up an easy offensive board and scores.

Penn State really needs to settle down now as Battle misses a floater, Babb misses a 3 and Mullens gets a fast break lay-up. We have probably the loudest moment of the game here in Columbus, and Ed DeChellis calls a timeout.

7:07 second half
Ohio State 55, Penn State 49

***
I think a fan just won a free haircut in a trivia question. But the rather annoying guy on the mic had to cheat for him to win.

Cornley misses a shot out of the timeout and PJ Hill sets things up for Ohio State. Turner misses and Morrissey grabs a board. And Battle misses, but this time PSU grabs the offensive rebound. Battle does a great job of splitting the defense and kicking to Pringle, who hit a 3 to give PSU a 44-39 lead.

What a drive by PJ Hill as he takes it to the rim for 2 for the Buckeyes.

The Penn State offense is just completely different than the opening stages of the game. More good ball movement ends with a Jones basket.

Foul on Morrissey and Kyle Madsen heads to the line for 2 shots. Madsen sinks both. 46-43 Penn State leads.

Back-to-back-to-back-to-back missed shots between the two teams. Cornley misses and Jones follows, but he gets called for basket interference.

10:53 second half
Penn State 46, Ohio State 43

***
And we're back here at Value City Arena as we are about to get going in the second half of a 32-30 ballgame with the Buckeyes leading the Nittany Lions.

Ohio State begins the first half playing Zombie Nation, drawing chants of "We Are Penn State" from the Jamelle Cornley section behind the Penn State bench. I give the sound guy a failing grade.

Battle starts of the first half with a backdoor cut and lay-up to tie the game, but Hill answers with a 3-pointer. Pringle forces a 3 from the wing off a Battle skip pass and it's no good.

The officials apparently stopped watching as Andrew Jones was ripped away from a potential rebound, and Hill ended up scoring to give the Bucks a 37-32 lead.

Great ball movement by Penn State as Battle makes another cuts and scores on a floater. Penn State continues its man-to-man defense and Lauderdale beats Jones for an easy two-handed slam.

Another nice pass by Penn State as Pringle finds Cornley, and Melle takes it to the hoop for 2.

Lauderdale basically tackles Jones, and Drew heads to the line for 2 shots. Jones knocks down both and the OSU lead is 39-38.

Andrew Jones does a terrific job of selling a play that probably wasn't a foul, but Lauderdale bumped him and got called for one. Morrissey misses on the other end.

Shades of Super Bowl Sunday in East Lansing, Mich., as Talor Battle decides to pull up from near Cleveland and bury a 3. Penn State is back in front and we head to a timeout.

14:58 first half
Penn State 41, Ohio State 39

***
As the Ohio State pep band performs the Script Ohio drill on the court, here are some halftime stats:

Field goals: PSU 44.4%, OSU 50%
3-pointers: PSU 45.5%, OSU 38.5%
Free throws: PSU 1-2, OSU 1-2
Rebounds: PSU 14, OSU 13
Turnovers: PSU 4, OSU 4

Leading scorers:
Penn State
Chris Babb, 9
Jamelle Cornley, 9

Ohio State
William Buford, 11
Jon Diebler, 6

Down just 32-30, the first half has to be considered a huge win for the Nittany Lions. Again, the Buckeyes started the game on a 21-4 run. Then Penn State answered with a 19-3 run of its own. Quite a first half, and it should be a great second half as Penn State looks to pick up another huge road win.

About 9 minutes until we get back underway.
Ohio State 32, Penn State 30

***
Jeff Brooks makes his first appearance of the game.

And Ed Hightower just drew the ire of the entire arena, calling Evan Turner out of bounds. Couldn't really tell what happened from our vantage point.

Pringle gets on the scoreboard for the first time to put PSU back up by 2.

Cornley backs down Turner, and it appeared that Turner stripped the ball away cleanly, but an official not named Hightower called a foul. 2 shots for Melle.

The first is good and Babb replaces Battle. Evan Turner takes a seat with 2 fouls. Cornley's second is no good, and the score is 30-27 Lions.

What a play by Ohio State as Simmons feeds Mullens with an alley-oop off an in-bounds pass from under the basket. Brooks misses a jumper and Ohio State re-takes the lead with a Simmons 3 from the top of the key. And the crowd is back into this one as the clock rolls under a minute.

A Morrissey 3 is no good, as is a Buford 3 for Ohio State. The ball got deflected out of bounds apparently off of the Buckeyes. Seven second differential between the shot and game clocks as Battle patiently dribbles near midcourt.

And Penn State gets 3 chances but comes up empty. Battle misses a 3, Babb misses the put back and Brooks misses another. That'll do it for the first half.

HALFTIME
Ohio State 32, Penn State 30

***
Babb air balls a long 2. Maybe he should stick to shooting 3's. That's 4 air balls for the Lions now, and Battle re-enters the game for Babb.

Pringle turns it over and Buford gives Ohio State the lead on a jumper. He has 11 now to lead all scorers. Andrew Jones' extra practice continues to pay off as he ducks around Mullens and sinks a hook shot. We are tied once again.

Quite a difference between the last game (38-33 at Illinois) and this one, as the Lions have 27 points. It took about 35 minutes to hit that mark last week.

3:39 first half
Penn State 27, Ohio State 27

***
All right, so Ohio State began the game on a 19-2 run. Now Penn State is on a 19-3 run. This is shaping up to be the most unusual game of the season.

Ed Hightower strikes a pose as he calls Pringle for a foul. Give him an Oscar.

Smmons misses a 3 and Cornley scores to give Penn State its first lead of the game at 23-22. Just unbelievable what has happened here.

Ed Hightower just stared down Andrew Jones and walked halfway across the floor while motioning the foul.

At the line, Lauderdale bricks the first. That may be the worst free-throw motion I have ever seen. Seriously. He makes the second one, but hack-Lauderdale might be a good strategy late in the game.

Two more points for Cornley to put Penn State up 25-23.

The entire Penn State defense steps out of the way and lets Simmons coast to the basket. Poor communication maybe? Tie ballgame.

With the shot clock winding down, Babb launches a 3 but misses. Offensive foul on Ohio State, and Morrissey replaces Battle.

5:22 first half
Penn State 25, Ohio State 25

***
And Chris Babb drills another 3. The freshman is coming up big off the bench and somehow we have a 19-15 game. 13-0 Penn State run. Just unbelievable, and PJ Hill turns it over.

Can this be Chris Babb's coming out party? Another 3 gives him 9 points and cuts the lead to one.

Buford drills a 3 for Ohio State to finally end the 16-0 Penn State run.

3 points Talor Battle. 22-21 Ohio State. I don't even know how to describe what has happened in this first 12+ minutes.

Media timeout.

7:34 first half
Ohio State 22, Penn State 21

***
And Penn State gets a bit of offense as Danny Morrissey hits a 3 from the corner in front of us. Not coincidentally, the Lions had good player and ball movement on that one.

Cornley blocks a shot and PSU gets a 3 from Chris Babb. Just like that Penn State has gone on an 8-0 runs. Make that a 10-run as Andrew Jones scores in transition. 19-12 Ohio State.

I'm not sure what Ed DeChellis said last timeout, but it appears to be working.

Hill misses a wide open 3 for the Bucks and PSU can cut the lead even more.

Battle gets trapped on the sidelines and uses a timeout.

9:28 first half
Ohio State 19, Penn State 12

***
I honestly have no idea what Penn State is trying to do offensively. Cornley just got blocked by Mullens again, and Mullens scores on the other end.

Cornley finally ducks around Mullens and scores to end a 16-0 Ohio State run. 19-4 Buckeyes.

11:23 first half
Ohio State 19, Penn State 4

***
Battle misses a shot and promptly picks up a foul in transition. This is about as bad as a team can start.

OK, this is as bad as a team can start -- 3 points Evan Turner, timeout Ed DeChellis.

Wow.

13:00 first half
Ohio State 17, Penn State 2

***
Props to Ohio State for their live stats monitors on each press table. Not only do we get live stats for every player, but also a small box with ESPN's TV feed. Not bad.

Talor Battle air balls a 3 and Buford gets the ball ahead of the pack and scores. The Penn State offense has looked terrible so far, hence the 10-point deficit.

Jamelle Cornley just air balled a jumper. That makes 3 for the Nittany Lions vs. one made shot. To state the obvious, that's not how you win basketball games.

Mullens blocks Cornley and Ohio State can exend the lead even more.They do just that as Buford scores. 14-2.

13:35 first half
Ohio State 14, Penn State 2

***
Brutus the Buckeye just imitated LeBron James by throwing the chalk into the air. It doesn't quite have the same effect as LeBron I must say.

Opening tip goes to Ohio State and Penn State sets up in a man-to-man defense. Jon Diebler starts things off on a high note for the Buckeys and buries a 3 from the wing.

On Penn State's first possession, OSU gets called for goaltending on a Cornley shot. 3-2

P.J. Hill -- not the Wisconsin running back -- knocks down another 3 for the Buckeyes. Ohio State is showing a pretty aggressive matchup zone, and it gave the Lions all kinds of trouble on that possession. Jackson launched a desperation 3 at the shot clock buzzer but missed everything. Hill misses a 3 for the Bucks.

Penn State turns it over and we hear our first "OH-IO" chant. I didn't realize Penn State was playing Ohio U. tonight.

It looks like Evan Turner got hit in the eye on the last play and we had a brief stoppage in play. He appears fine though.

Diebler misses a 3 but again Penn State throws it away for a turnover.

A long two for Buford falls and Ohio State takes an 8-2 lead. With "air ball" chants from the student section, DJ Jackson gets called for a charge and is pulled for Danny Morrissey.

PJ Hill drives to the bucket through traffic and scores. 10-2. Evan Turner picks up a foul and we head to the first media timeout.

15:45 first half
Ohio State 10, Penn State 2

***
Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressell just walked by through the tunnel and took a nice courtside seat.

In other news, the famous Ed Hightower will be officiating tonight's game. What a nice homecoming present for Columbus-native Jamelle Cornley.

Just a few more minutes until tip-off, stay tuned.

***
In honor of Brent Musberger, who is calling tonight's game:

YOU ARE LOOKING LIVE at Hardwood Hits' live blog from Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Matt Brown here to take you through tonight's showdown between Penn State (19-8, 8-6 Big Ten) and Ohio State (17-8, 7-7).

Nate, Matt and I successfully made it from State College to Columbus in about 5 1/2 hours, with the only hang up being some slow traffic near the Goodyear factory in Akron. Other than that, it was standard boring driving through Ohio's flat terrain. Should make for a fun ride late night ride back to Happy Valley.

We have a nice seat in the first row of the corner press area, right between the Penn State tunnel and the Ohio State student section. With ESPN in town, Musberger, Steve Lavin and everyone's favorite, Erin Andrews, are here to call the action.

This game has huge NCAA tournament implications, as another road win over a quality opponent would put Penn State in very good position for an at-large bid. A loss certainly wouldn't kill the Nittany Lions' tournament chances, but with a national audience tuning in, this is big for the program.

Tonight's lineups:
Penn State
G- 12 Talor Battle
G- 11 Stanley Pringle
F- 15 D.J. Jackson
F- 2 Jamelle Cornley
C- 22 Andrew Jones

Ohio State
G- 4 P.J. Hill
G- 44 William Buford
G- 33 Jon Diebler
F- 21 Evan Turner
F- 52 Dallas Lauderdale