CHICAGO – Last Sunday, Ohio State was wishing that the day would never end; today they were just thankful to advance against 11th-seeded Penn State.

“I’m glad that game is over,” said Ohio State head coach Thad Matta. “That was a very tough game – from the beginning they took us out of everything we were trying to do.”

Matta had guaranteed that his team would not be primed for another upset after the victory over Illinois. He was as close to fibbing to his faithful as could be, since the Buckeyes had to come back from 15 down in the second half to slip past the Nittany Lions.

That deficit ties the record for biggest comeback victory in the Big Ten Tournament. The turnaround was sparked with 14:44 remaining in the second half, when guard J.J. Sullinger hit back-to-back threes and stole a pass for a breakaway dunk.

“We weren’t doing anything different; they just started finding ways to score,” said Penn State freshman forward Geary Claxton.

Penn State rode its newcomers, Claxton and junior college transfer Travis Parker. Claxton scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Parker netted a career-high 21.

If Ohio State – which is ineligible for the postseason – was going to avoid an early and embarrassing knockout, they needed to look for a hero. This time Matt Sylvester was not to be found. The man who erased hopes of an undefeated season for Illinois fouled out with a total of 3 points. Instead, senior Tony Stockman refused to go home and scored 25 points, including 19 in the second half.

“It wasn’t a pretty win but somehow, someway we found a way to win this basketball game,” Stockman said. “When we were down you just look at it like this, if this is going to be my last basketball game, I might as well have fun and leave it all out there.”

Matta explained that his team was shell-shocked to come out there and have the No. 11 seed in the tournament take it to his team like they did. Penn State was determined to take it inside and prove that its young team will be one to be reckoned with in the future.

“We were feeling sorry for ourselves,” Matta said. “You feel sorry for yourself, you’re going to get run out of the gymnasium.”