Sam Thompson listened to praise about his outside shooting and almost took it as an insult.
”I can still jump a little bit,” he said with a grin.
Thompson scored a career-high 22 points and D’Angelo Russell flirted with his second straight triple-double to lead No. 23 Ohio State past Penn State 75-55 on Wednesday night.
The Buckeyes (19-6, 8-4 Big Ten), who have won five of six, are a superior team when Russell has a running mate who joins him in the 20-point range.
”It makes it easier. A lot easier,” said Russell, the nation’s leading freshman scorer, who had 17 points, six rebounds and seven assists. ”Teams can’t really key on me if the other guys are stepping up and doing what they’re good at.”
For at least his first couple of years at Ohio State, Thompson, a 6-foot-7 senior, was known for his highlight-reel dunks but little else offensively. He was hardly a factor from the perimeter and didn’t drive to the hoop much.
But against offensively challenged Penn State (15-10, 3-9), he shot 3 of 5 on 3-pointers and 7 of 9 from the free throw line to eclipse his previous career best of 20 points against Iona in the 2013 NCAA tournament.
”That was big for us. I’m so happy to see the ball going in for Sam,” coach Thad Matta said. ”He puts a lot of time in. We’ve kind of been saying, if we can get him making some shots it makes us a lot more effective. Everybody fears him running to the rim, (but) being able to step out and make a shot definitely helps open things up for us.”
Ohio State never trailed after streaking to a 12-0 lead while holding Penn State scoreless for the first 6:54.
The Lions drew as close as 24-16 before Ohio State pulled away for good. Thompson hit a layup off Russell’s assist before Russell made a teardrop and two free throws and Jae’Sean Tate scored inside. After Julian Moore hit a basket for Penn State, Russell poured in a long, arching 3-pointer to make it 35-18.
D.J. Newbill had 16 points for Penn State, which swept the two-game series last year after losing 18 straight to the Buckeyes.
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