The Big Ten attacked again.
Ohio State went up in flames on Wednesday night and set Penn State on a trail, rising to eleven points in the first half. Somewhere along the way, towards the end of the second half, however, the Nittany Lions’ mindset changed, energy and purpose increased and things started to change.
The Buckeyes were never able to resolve the pressure on the ball that Penn State showed, and this resulted in an 83-79 breakout following a major road victory against one of Wisconsin’s top ten teams. A victory is a victory, it is a victory, but it was a battle tonight.
Still, this is arguably the most profound and talented conference in the country, and if you don’t come to play, any team in the league can make you pay. That almost happened on Wednesday night and you can bet that coach Chris Holtmann would rather teach in victory than after a defeat.
As we do after each game, here are three lessons that we observe throughout the action.