Buckeyes again struggle with lowly Nittany Lions
Ohio State is tired of hearing about its inability to put opponents away.
The second-ranked Buckeyes sweated out another victory over Penn State on Wednesday night, with star freshman Greg Oden limited in the offense.
"It's a pretty good issue," coach Thad Matta said sarcastically, before spitting out an expletive, about Oden taking nine shots. "We're 25-3. We're doing a couple of things well here."
That may be true, but Penn State seems to bring out the worst in Ohio State. A week after hanging on and beating the Nittany Lions 64-62, Jamar Butler scored 18 points, and Oden had 17 points and 14 rebounds to help the Buckeyes win 68-60.
The win set the stage for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown Sunday when top-ranked Wisconsin, still smarting from Tuesday night's 64-55 loss at Michigan State, comes to town. The winner is assured at least a share of the Big Ten title.
"(Today), we have the day off and the coaches are going to work really hard to get us prepared," Oden said. "Come Friday, we are going to work as hard as we can. We don't look back. We just take this game as a new one."
That's exactly what No. 3 Florida did against South Carolina, rebounding from its first loss in more than two months with a 63-49 victory against the Gamecocks.
Al Horford scored 20 points, Chris Richard added a season-high 14 as the Gators, whose 17-game winning streak was snapped Saturday at Vanderbilt, clinched the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship — their second outright league title and first since 1989.
At Chapel Hill, N.C., Brandan Wright scored 24 points and North Carolina pulled away for an easy victory.Tyler Hansbrough added 20 points for the Tar Heels (24-4, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who used a huge second-half run to avenge an upset loss earlier this month and move into first place in the league.
Acie Law IV scored 19 points and freshman Donald Sloan added 15 as Texas A&M handed Oklahoma State its most lopsided home defeat in nearly three decades.The Aggies (23-4, 11-2 Big 12) made their first win in Gallagher-Iba Arena a memorable one. They had the largest margin of victory for a visitor since Texas won 108-87 in Stillwater on Dec. 12, 1977, embarrassing the Cowboys (19-8, 5-7).
At Cincinnati, Jeff Green scored 21 points and had a tone-setting block, helping Georgetown extend its winning streak to 10 games.The Hoyas (21-5, 11-2 Big East) took control with a 13-point run late in the first half, and the league's toughest defense held off its worst team.
At Terre Haute, Ind., Tony Young scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to help Southern Illinois beat Indiana State and win the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title outright.Jamaal Tatum also scored 15 points for the Salukis (24-5, 14-3), who won their 10th straight.
Jamont Gordon recorded his first career triple-double — and the second in school history — with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists as Mississippi State (16-10, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) snapped a 13-game losing streak against ranked opponents.
