Saturday, March 20, 1999
OHIO STATE NOTEBOOK
Penn makes gamble work for Bucks
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jim O'Brien couldn't wait any longer. It was time, as he said later, to roll the dice.
So with 10:14 left in Thursday night's South Regional semifinal, the Ohio State coach put his point guard back into the game with four personal fouls.
Scoonie Penn made an immediate impact.
The 5-foot-10 junior hit a three-pointer to get the Buckeyes within 52-49, and he would help Ohio State rally from a six-point deficit on the way to a 72-64 victory over No.1-seeded Auburn.
“I had a sense that we were sliding,” O'Brien said. “We were just trying to bide time, but they got on a little run. They clearly had the momentum, and I wasn't going to lose the game with our best player sitting on the bench. We needed to have him in.”
Penn finished with a game-high 26 points — 19 in the second half — four assists, three steals and no turnovers in 36 minutes.
During the three minutes he sat out, OSU watched a three-point lead turn into a six-point deficit. When Penn returned, he was the difference in the game, scoring nine of his team's 13 points during a key six-minute stretch.
Auburn tried to take the ball at Penn to draw a fifth foul, but after one or two attempts, the Tigers failed to attack Penn again.
The Buckeyes are one victory from the Final Four. They play St. John's at 6p.m. today.
OSU keys
Two of the other reasons Ohio State got past No.fourth-ranked Auburn: Rebounding and free throws down the stretch.
The Tigers pulled down 14 offensive rebounds, but only three in the second half, and they had no direct putbacks. Auburn won the rebounding battle 41-37 but came in outrebounding opponents by an average of 9.2 a game — fourth in the country.
The Buckeyes finished just 12-of-23 from the free throw line (52.2 percent) but made 9-of-12 in the final 3:47.
Familiar faces
Ohio State freshman Brian Brown played at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn with St. John's sophomore Reggie Jessie and has played during the summer in New York with several other Red Storm players, including starters Erick Barkley and Ron Artest.
“I know about five of them,” Brown said. “I guess it's for bragging rights for the summer time.”
Take 2
No matter what the outcome tonight, there's going to be a rematch. Ohio State and St. John's are scheduled to meet in December at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Notable numbers
OSU is 9-2 against ranked opponents. ... The victory over No.4 Auburn was the Buckeyes' first against a top-five program since February 1993. ... Senior Jason Singleton became OSU's 37th 1,000-point scorer Thursday night.
MARCH MADNESS PAGE
