Hot-shooting Ohio State crushes Penn State

John Mobley Jr. matched his career high with 28 points and Ohio State shot 66.7% from the field in a 94-62 rout of Penn State in State College, Pa., on Wednesday.

Mobley exemplified the hot shooting for the Buckeyes (19-11, 11-8 Big Ten) by going 8 of 9 from 3-point range, his ninth game this season with five or more treys.

Bruce Thornton scored 18 on 7-of-8 shooting, Amare Bynum had 14 (6 of 7 from the floor) and Devin Royal also contributed 14 points and nine rebounds as the Buckeyes made 34 of 51 field goals, including 16 of 23 (69.6%) from beyond the arc.

Thornton needs 12 points to pass Dennis Hopson (2,096) to become Ohio State's all-time scoring leader. He will have the opportunity Saturday when the Buckeyes host Indiana in the regular-season finale.

Freddie Dilione V and Ivan Juric led the Nittany Lions (12-18, 3-16) with 15 points each.

Penn State was without its second-leading scorer, Kayden Mingo (13.7), who had a facial injury against Iowa on Sunday. He was recovering from a broken nose.

Ohio State took a commanding 45-21 halftime lead and cruised to its fifth Big Ten road win. The Buckeyes haven't done that since the 2021-22 season, when they last played in the NCAA Tournament.

The Buckeyes were coming off an 82-74 win over No. 15 Purdue on Sunday, marking their first victory against a ranked team. This win gave them a boost in their effort to get off the bubble and solidify their spot in the NCAA Tournament, making a win over the worst team in the Big Ten essential.

Ohio State played with urgency after a sluggish start and decisively finished the game. The Buckeyes were only ahead 10-9 when Christoph Tilly (10 points) made a layup to ignite a 13-0 run, while Penn State went scoreless for more than six minutes.

The run reached 23-2 over a 10-minute span, giving a 33-11 lead, and it only got worse from there. It was 43-15 with just over a minute remaining as Penn State missed 15 of 16 shots during that stretch.

The Nittany Lions were 4 of 22 (18.2%) from the floor in the first half.