2018 Big Ten Tournament: Penn State defeats Ohio State to move to semifinals

Penn State beat Ohio State in a thriller on Friday night at Madison Square Garden 69-68 to move on to the 2018 Big Ten Tournament semifinals

In an outstanding game at the World’s Most Famous Arena, the Penn State Nittany Lions got the job done against the Ohio State Buckeyes on a game-winning Josh Reaves dunk.

This win earned Penn State a spot in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since the 2010-2011 season. Ironically, that was the last time that the Nittany Lions made the NCAA Tournament, which is still in play for them after Friday’s win.

If Penn State can secure a win Saturday and get to the Big Ten Tournament Finals, the Nittany Lions would tremendously increase their chances at an NCAA Tournament bid.

The win was Penn State’s third of the season against Ohio State. Considering Ohio State has been a solid top-25 team all year, that is an incredibly impressive feat.

With the loss, Ohio State will likely move them down to a six seed in the NCAA Tournament, which is a hard hit for them, as they could have earned a 3 or 4 seed with a good Big Ten Tournament showing.

Tony Carr led the Nittany Lions with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from downtown. He also had the game-winning assist to a cutting Josh Reaves after being double-teamed by two Ohio State defenders. Lamar Stevens and Shep Garner aided the effort with 15 points and 13 points respectively.

Big Ten Player of the Year, Keita Bates-Diop, was Ohio State’s leading scorer with 25 points, shooting 10-of-20 from the field.

Penn State will now play the winner of the Purdue-Rutgers quarterfinals game. Earlier in the season, the Nittany Lions lost to Purdue in Mackey Arena 76-73, and beat Rutgers 60-43 at home.

If Purdue were to get out of this game with a win, which is likely, Penn State would face the difficult task of defending the Boilmakers’ seven-footers, Isaac Haas and Matt Haarms without Mike Watkins, who is out for the Big Ten Tournament with a knee injury.

Next: Penn State Football: Tracking the Nittany Lions at the NFL Combine

The Nittany Lions’ semifinal game will be held at 4:30 PM on Saturday, following the Michigan-Michigan State game.