COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Another three-pointer had just rained down from the left corner, and Duane Washington was beckoning with his left hand.
Penn State had just called a timeout, and Washington was near midcourt seemingly asking for a little more applause from the Ohio State crowd. Instead, he was calling for teammate Andre Wesson, whose swished shot had just given the No. 6 Buckeyes a 77-58 lead with 9:44 to play.
The Nittany Lions had no further answers, and Ohio State just kept on rolling. Three days removed from a 25-point win at No. 7 North Carolina, the Buckeyes (9-0) dominated Penn State and ran away with a 106-74 victory behind a career-best performance from Kaleb Wesson.
In 25 minutes, Kaleb Wesson hit a career-high four three-pointers, pulled down 10 rebounds and scored a season-high 28 points, coming in just three shy of his career high. Andre Wesson added 15 points, with guards Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr. each adding 14. As a team, the Buckeyes were 12 for 18 (66.7%) from three during the second half.
It helped power the Buckeyes past 100 points against a Big Ten team for the first time since they had 102 points in a Jan. 10, 1991 win against Northwestern.
Against a team that presented Ohio State's most physical opponent yet, Kaleb Wesson came out firing. The junior center swished a three-pointer from the top of the circle as the shot clock buzzed on Ohio State's first possession, then followed it up with a left-handed hook shot over senior center Mike Watkins. Two possessions later, it was a shot fake from the three-point line and a finished drive to the basket, giving him seven early points as the Buckeyes scratched out a 9-5 lead.
At the first media timeout, Wesson had seven points and one block and had drawn fouls on primary Penn State big men Lamar Stevens and Watkins. It set an early tone as the Buckeyes methodically built a lead that climbed as high as 15 points during the half, but Penn State rallied when Wesson picked up his second foul with 5:31 and the Ohio State lead at 30-17.
In the final 331 seconds of the half, the Nittany Lions scored 18 points to finish with 35, giving them the highest-scoring first half allowed by the Ohio State defense this season. They would get no closer than seven points, though, and freshman D.J. Carton sent the Buckeyes into the break with a 46-35 lead after he hit two free throws with 2.8 seconds left.
Stevens wouldn't be around long. Playing with three fouls during the second half, he was whistled for his fourth with 13:26 to play and showed his displeasure to the officials. It earned him a technical from Terry Wymer, fouling him out of the game with Ohio State ahead 60-50. The first-team all-Big Ten selection from a year ago was done with 11 points and three rebounds.
The Buckeyes will take a break for finals before going to Minnesota on Dec. 15 for their next game.
