STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — With one shot, No. 22 Ohio State had a chance to wash away a game full of missteps
and prevent Penn State from pulling off yet another upset of the Buckeyes.
Aaron Craft drew the defense to him and passed to a wide-open Lenzelle Smith Jr., but his 3-pointer with
just seconds left drew iron. Penn State grabbed the rebound, and the win, 65-63 on Thursday night at the
Bryce Jordan Center.
“Aaron made a great read. It was a wide-open shot,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “Small things win
you games and small things lose you games. Tonight the little things lost us the game. We had a chance
in the first half to open it up. We missed free throws and we missed point-blank looks at the basket. To
Penn State’s credit, they kept fighting. They kept clawing.”
D.J. Newbill scored 23 points, Tim Frazier added 16 and Penn State held off a late rally by the Buckeyes.

Nittany Lions coach Patrick Chambers didn’t think it was the matchup or the fact that it was Senior Night
that allowed his team to beat Ohio State again.
No, it was something more basic.
“I think we were mad,” he said, emphasizing that Penn State had been thumped by Iowa and Nebraska in its
previous two games. “It just happened to be Ohio State tonight. We came out and played desperate and
with a sense of urgency. And we played angry.”
The Buckeyes (22-7, 9-7 Big Ten) had a chance to win at the end. Coming out of a timeout with 6.8 seconds
left, Smith’s 3-pointer rimmed out. The Nittany Lions (14-14, 5-10) grabbed the rebound and time
expired.
Ohio State was led by LaQuinton Ross, who scored 19 points. Craft, plagued by foul trouble most of the
game, added 10.
“It was one of those games where two guys pound the ball off the backboard and it bounces out and they
make a 3 on us,” Matta said. “Little things like that is kind of the way the game went.”
Penn State swept the season series. The Nittany Lions upset then-No. 23 Ohio State 71-70 in overtime on
Jan. 29 in Columbus.
Nittany Lions forward Donovan Jack made a turnaround jumper, was fouled and hit the free throw to give
Penn State a 60-55 lead with 1:59 to go.
Ross and Craft each made a pair of free throws, sandwiched around two by Frazier, to pull the Buckeyes to
62-59 with just more than a minute to go.
Frazier pushed Penn State’s lead to five with 39.4 seconds left with a pair of free throws.
After Ross made two more free throws, Shannon Scott stole the inbounds pass and passed to Trey McDonald
for a layup that cut it to 64-63.
Penn State missed two free throws on the ensuing possession, but Smith’s shot caromed off the rim and
over the backboard, giving the Nittany Lions the ball back with under 10 seconds left.
Frazier was fouled and made one of two at the line, setting up Smith’s last-second attempt from 3-point
range.
“When we executed what we were supposed to do, it was amazing what happened. We didn’t have the flow that
we normally do,” Matta said. “That was the difference. We talked about it and talked about it. We
couldn’t get it to where we needed it.”
Frazier, a senior point guard, was recognized before the game as part of Senior Night festivities. He is
one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, given annually to a student-athlete with notable
achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Frazier will
leave Penn State as the school’s career leader in assists.
Frazier acknowledged that his uneven play early was due to the emotions and nerves of the night.
“It was very emotional. I was basically trying to hold back tears in the beginning. Obviously you tell at
the beginning of the game I had so many emotions running through me. Turnovers left and right.
Airballs,” he said.
Chambers was happy to see a player who has meant so much to the program get a win on his special night.

“He’s an amazing kid. A man now. He’s a man,” Chambers said. “It’s Senior Night. You’ve got family there.
You’ve got one game left in this building. You’ve been here five years. You’ve invested time and energy.
He puts so much into this program. You can’t blame the guy for being jacked up. I was happy to see us
get a win for him.”