The team that handed top-ranked Illinois its only defeat of the season Sunday did a disappearing act for the first 25 1/2 minutes Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
But senior guard Tony Stockman, whose contribution to the upset of Illinois consisted of just two points, came out of hiding on the bench to score 19 of his 25 points in the second half and lead Ohio State to a 72-69 conquest of upset-minded Penn State.
Coach Thad Matta needed big games from Stockman and forward J.J. Sullinger, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, because the heroes of the Illinois game, reserve forward Matt Sylvester and center Terence Dials, were mostly in the shadows.
Against the Illini, Sylvester scored a career-high 25 points and hit the game-winning three-point shot with eight seconds to play; against the Nittany Lions, he made only 1 of 6 shots and a free throw to finish with three points. He turned the ball over five times and fouled out with less than 1 1/2 minutes remaining.
Against Illinois, Dials scored 21 points. Against Penn State, he made 1 of 6 shots from the field and wound up with six points.
Matta didn’t like what he was seeing when the Buckeyes (20-11) fell behind early and saw their deficit twice mount to 15 points.
“Coach doesn’t get on us very often,” Dials said. “It seems like every time he gets on us we respond and pick it up. Hopefully it doesn’t take him to lose his voice [Friday against Wisconsin] for us to pick it up.”
The turning point was a 20-5 run that came after Danny Morrissey’s three-point shot put the team that finished on the bottom of the standings in the Big Ten’s regular season on top 47-32 with 5 minutes 16 minutes gone in the second half.
During the Buckeyes’ power surge Sullinger sank three three-pointers and scored on a slam following a steal.
Although the Nittany Lions (7-23) didn’t cave in after Ohio State edged in front they stopped making shots.
After Geary Claxton scored off a rebound, and added a free throw, with 10:28 remaining, they didn’t get another field goal until Mike Walker sank a three-pointer with 18.1 seconds to play.
“We made some silly plays with the ball and we turned the ball over 13 times in the second half, which led to some easy baskets,” Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. “They found a rhythm in the second half. We gave them open shots; we were a half-step slow.”
The Buckeyes’ 26 points off turnovers helped them offset being outshot 47.9 percent to 40.7 and outrebounded 37-29. Freshman forward Claxton and junior forward Travis Parker were outstanding in defeat.
“They knocked us on our heels,” Matta said. “They took us out of what we were trying to do. We didn’t have the energy and fire. We need all five guys playing well, but we never got all five guys working together in a flow offensively and defensively.”
Stockman, who lost his starting job early in the season, deserves credit, not only for his 25-point scoring spree but also for his defense, which included four steals.
“I just came out aggressive and knocked some shots down and we picked it up on defense,” Stockman said. “If today was going to be my last day [of college basketball], I wanted to have some fun.”
