Columbus, Ohio — With the score tied and final seconds winding down, Penn State’s Tony Carr dribbled across the center line and launched a desperation jumper with two Ohio State players in his face. The ball banked in off the glass, and Carr’s teammates mobbed him on the Value City Arena court.
The buzzer-beater – it came seconds after Ohio State’s Keita Bates-Diop tied it with a 3-pointer – gave Penn State an 82-79 victory over the No. 13 Buckeyes on Thursday night.
Ohio State lost for the first time in 10 Big Ten games this season.
“I think we definitely outplayed them from the tip,” Carr said. “We were just more focused, we were more hungry.”
Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann wouldn’t argue with that. Neither would his players, who were at the end of the grueling stretch of five games in 11 days.
“This is not unlike what we thought could happen at some point,” Holtmann said. “We’ll see how they respond.”
Ohio State played from behind the entire game and was outhustled on defense, allowing Penn State (14-8, 4-5) to hit 11 of 14 shots from behind the 3-point line. The 78.6 percent success rate was the best in program history.
Carr, the top scorer in the Big Ten behind Bates-Diop , paced Penn State with 28 points and was 4 for 5 from beyond the arc.
He was the logical guy to take the final shot with a chance to win the game and give Penn State its first win over a ranked team this season.
“I was definitely rolling tonight,” he said, “and that shot kept it up.”
Bates-Diop, who had been battling the flu and was questionable for the game, led Ohio State (18-5, 9-1) with 25 points but was in foul trouble for much of the second half. He sat on the bench for a 7-minute chunk in the middle of the half.
But he had three 3-pointers in the last 2:07 to pull the Buckeyes back in it. He tied it with a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left just before Carr connected from deep as time ran out.
Lamar Stevens added 15 points and Shep Garner 14 for Penn State, which hadn’t beaten a team ranked as high as Ohio State on the road since 2009. Guard Josh Reaves, who rejoined the team after sitting out four games with academic issues, had 10 points.
Jae’Sean Tate had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes.
Top 25
(At) No. 11 Arizona 80, Colorado 71: Allonzo Trier scored 23 points, Deandre Ayton added 20 and Arizona avenged its lone loss of the Pac-12 season.
The 7-foot-1 Ayton, expected to be at or near the top of the NBA draft this year, was 12 of 12 at the foul line as the Buffaloes tried to get physical with the big rookie, without much success.
Dusan Ristic added 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting for the Wildcats (17-4, 7-1 Pac-12). George King scored 22 points for Colorado (12-9, 4-5).
No. 15 Gonzaga 95, (at) Portland 79: Killian Tillie had 27 points and seven rebounds, and No. 15 Gonzaga cruised. Corey Kispert added a season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who won their 20th straight conference road game.
(At) No. 16 Saint Mary's 75, BYU 62: Jock Landale had 32 points and 14 rebounds and No. 16 Saint Mary's pulled away in the second half for its 15th consecutive victory. The winning streak matches the longest in Saint Mary's history. The Gaels also won 15 straight in 2008-09.
(At) No. 17 Wichita State 81, Central Florida 62: Shaquille Morris scored 19 points to lead Wichita State.
Morris, demoted from his starting spot, was 8 of 10 from the floor in 21 minutes. Darral Willis had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Shockers (16-4, 6-2 American Athletic Conference).
Dayon Griffin scored 15 points for Central Florida (13-7, 4-4).
Utah 80, (at) No. 21 Arizona State 77, OT: Sedrick Barefield scored 17 points and hit the tying 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in regulation, helping Utah knock off Arizona State in overtime.
Utah (13-7, 5-4 Pac-12) led 79-77 late in overtime and had a chance to stretch it, but David Collette missed two free throws with 20.9 seconds left.
Arizona State (15-5, 3-5) missed two shots on the next possession and Barefield hit 1 of 2 free throws. The Sun Devils’ final shot, a running 3-pointer by Tra Holder at the buzzer, was nowhere close.
Holder led Arizona State with 23 points.