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GAME NOTES: The ninth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes continue their quest for the Big Ten Conference regular-season title, and they will do battle with the Penn State Nittany Lions this evening on the road.

Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan State have all won 11 league games this season, and Wisconsin is just one win off the pace. Clearly, the Big Ten race will go down to the wire. The Buckeyes are playing inspired basketball, as they have won seven of their last eight games to move to 21-7 overall and 11-4 in conference. On Sunday, they posted a statement win over Michigan State in East Lansing by a 74-67 final.

As for Penn State, it has put together back-to-back wins over league foes after starting 0-12 in conference play. The Nittany Lions knocked off Michigan on the road this past Saturday in a 55-51 final, as strong defense was clearly the key to success. Still, the squad is just 10-16 overall.

The Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions, 75-62, earlier this month in Columbus to increase their lead to 26-13 in the all-time series.

Evan Turner may very well be the best college basketball player in the nation, as the Ohio State standout brings a tremendous amount of versatility to the floor. Turner is generating 19.5 ppg on 54.1 percent shooting from the field, and he is also ripping down 9.3 rpg to go along with 127 assists. Those numbers would likely be even better if Turner hadn't missed six games with a broken bone is his back. William Buford (13.9 ppg), Jon Diebler (12.5 ppg) and David Lighty (12.3 ppg) add balance to the lineup for the Buckeyes, who are generating 73.7 ppg while permitting a mere 60.4 ppg. In the seven-point road win over Michigan State, Turner racked up 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Buford added 17 points and 10 boards. Lighty had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Diebler scored 12 points for Ohio State, which had only six players see game action.

While Ohio State has four key contributors, there is only one double-digit scorer on the Penn State roster. Talor Battle is posting 19.0 ppg to go with 105 assists, but there has been many games this season in which he hasn't gotten enough help from his teammates. The Nittany Lions are generating a modest 64.9 ppg, and while they are limiting opponents to 64.0 ppg overall, it should be pointed out that the team is being outscored by 6.5 ppg in league affairs. In the thrilling win over Michigan last time out, Battle scored 14 points and added 11 rebounds and six assists, proof of his tremendous versatility. The standout guard played all 40 minutes and showed tremendous toughness. Andrew Jones added 10 points for the victors.

Ohio State is clearly superior to Penn State and will win by double figures tonight. Turner will be brilliant as usual.