Young finally savors victory at Penn State
‘It feels good’ says OSU player after his 16 points
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Kyle Young has seen a lot inside Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.
He logged 10 minutes off the bench as a first-year player when No. 8 Ohio State took a 79-56 thumping to an unranked Penn State team that would sweep a three-game season series. Two years later, Young started but saw only 14 minutes as No. 21 Ohio State took a 90-76 loss.
When he finally tasted victory here, it came during the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season played without fans in the stands. It wasn't until Sunday, eight games into his fifth season, that Young got to hand the Nittany Lions and their fans a loss.
“It feels good,” Young said after leading the Buckeyes with a season-high 16 points. “Coming into this game, we know how hard it is to play here. We know how hard it is to win here. Here, it's always been tough. They've been a team that we're getting their best shot every time. This is a game we're always looking at on our schedule because we know it's going to be a tough, hard-fought 40-minute battle. It felt good to get the win, especially being my fifth year.”
Last season, Young added a 3-point shot to his arsenal and enjoyed increased success as the year progressed. He finished the year 13 for 30 (43.3%), but it hadn't translated to the early going this
year. A vestibular dysfunction slowed him during the preseason, and he entered Sunday having only hit on 3 of 11 (27.3%) from deep.
Against the Nittany Lions, Young went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc. . His performance added to a season-high-tying 12 made 3s by the Buckeyes. In 23:07, Young also added a team-high seven rebounds, blocked a shot and drew five fouls. He
was perfect on four free throws, and his only miss came from inside the 3-point line.
Unsurprisingly, Young said this is the best his shot has felt so far this season.
“Yeah, it's feeling really good,” he said. “I didn't start off the greatest and wasn't putting up as many, but I'm never worried. We've been putting in so much work. Coaches are always talking to me, my teammates are always talking to me telling me to keep shooting it so once I hit a couple (tonight) they wanted me to keep shooting.”
Justin Ahrens, Meechie Johnson hit big shots
Young made the most, but two of his teammates got the most praise from coach Chris Holtmann for shots of their own.
“I thought the shots of the game were Meechie's and Justin's 3s that we needed,” he said.
Ahrens finished 3 for 8 from deep for 9 points and Johnson was perfect on two 3-point attempts to finish with 8 points. Since hitting the game-winning shot right before the buzzer against No. 21 Seton Hall, Johnson had missed on eight straight 3-point attempts entering Sunday.
His first one came at a critical time. Ohio State scored the first five points of the game, but Penn State answered with buckets on five straight possessions to take a 12-5 lead and force Holtmann to call a timeout. Out of the huddle, Johnson swished a 3-point attempt off a feed from Wheeler.
It restarted the offense, and his second 3-pointer was just as important. An 18-point lead had been cut to 64-57 with four minutes to go when Johnson stemmed a 6-0 Penn State run with his second 3-pointer at the 3:52 mark to push it back to a 10-point lead.
The Nittany Lions pulled within six again, but Ahrens hit his third and final 3-pointer to again stem the tide.