No. 14 Ohio State beats Penn State 65-51

Ohio State's Lenzelle Smith Jr. (32) works past Penn State's D.J Newbill (2) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in State College, Pa.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Sam Thompson scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and No. 14 Ohio State took advantage of cold-shooting Penn State in a 65-51 victory Saturday.

DeShaun Thomas added 11 points, well below his Big Ten-leading average of 20.5. Thompson picked up the slack against the Nittany Lions, who went 11-plus minutes of the first half without a field goal.

Ohio State (15-4, 5-2 Big Ten) gradually asserted control in the second half, though scrappy Penn State (8-12, 0-8) tried to hang around with defense and got within 10 points with 2:41 remaining.

Only the Nittany Lions couldn't stop Thompson. Left open in the corner, the lithe 6-foot-7 forward drove the baseline and contorted his body around 6-9 center Sasa Borovnjak for a layup, three-point play and 43-27 lead with about 13:30 left.

Jermaine Marshall had 16 points for the Nittany Lions, who have lost 18 straight to the Buckeyes.