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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHICAGO (AP) -- Joe Crispin was dragging. His head was hurting, he was feverish, his energy was zapped and his chest congested from an upper respiratory ailment.
But as the last seconds ticked off the clock and he and his Penn State teammates whooped and hollered as they left the floor at the United Center, Crispin had never felt better.
|  | | Penn State's Titus Ivory scored 17 points in the Lions' stunning win over the top seed. |
"You feel tired. Fatigue's a factor but you find a way to get it done," Crispin said after helping the Nittany Lions score a 71-66 upset of top seed Ohio State (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP) in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals Friday.
"I don't care if you play eight days straight, when you're playing the No. 4 team, you can find a way. There's always something left in the tank."
Crispin scored seven points in the final 2:20 and Penn State defeated a ranked team for the first time in 10 tries this season, beating one that was in the Final Four last season.
With Scoonie Penn struggling, shooting just 3-of-16 and committing seven turnovers, the Buckeyes (22-6) suffered a loss that could cost them a top seed in the NCAA tournament.
"It's really easy for us to brush this off: `Oh we lost in the (Big Ten) semifinals last year and still went to the Final Four.' That was then, this is now," Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien said.
"To think we're going to get a first seed is out of the question at this point. What we need to do is make sure it is not damaging when we play in the NCAA."
Powerful Jarrett Stephens, the only Big Ten player to average a double-double this season, scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds for Penn State (15-14), which moves into Saturday's semifinals against Illinois. Titus Ivory added 17 and Crispin had 13.
Penn State, the No. 9 seed, beat Michigan in the first round Thursday. The Nittany Lions had lost twice to Ohio State in the regular season, by 13 in Columbus and six in State College.
"I don't think we're really surprised. We came in really confident. We knew it was going to be hard for Ohio State to beat us three times in one season," Stephens said.
"To be honest, we came in this game knowing we could win," Crispin said. "We knew we could beat them. We've had trouble finishing games off -- that's the story of our whole season -- but we did it today and got a huge win."
George Reese scored 22 for Ohio State, and Michael Redd had 19. But Penn, the Buckeyes' leader, continued a late-season stretch of cold shooting.
Ohio State closed the regular season with a five-game winning streak, despite 16-of-55 shooting from the senior.
Penn managed just eight points Saturday and was 2-of-14 on 3-pointers. As a team, the Buckeyes were 4-of-26 on 3-pointers.
"I just didn't put it down today," Penn said. "It was just one of those days. I kept shooting. I kept getting good looks, so I kept shooting. I made a couple bad decisions that lead to turnovers and that hurt my team."
Ken Johnson's follow with 2:41 to go gave the Buckeyes a 59-57 lead. Crispin hit a 3-pointer to put the Nittany Lions ahead before Redd's two free throws gave the Buckeyes their final lead at 61-60.
Ivory scored in the lane with 1:54 left and Penn State led by one. The Nittany Lions' Gyasi Cline-Heard then made a steal and called for a time as he was falling out of bounds.
Ivory drove for the basket but his shot went hard off the glass and the 6-7, 255-pound Stephens stuffed in a follow shot to give Penn State a 64-61 lead with 1:11 left.
Crispin then hit four straight free throws and his brother, Jon, made 1-of-2 around a driving basket by Penn. Redd's 3-pointer got Ohio State within three at 69-66. But Penn State's Tyler Smith sank two free throws with 18 seconds left and the Nittany Lions had one of their biggest basketball victories ever.
Penn State had beaten Purdue when it was ranked fifth in 1998.
"It was fun, it was big-time basketball at the end," Joe Crispin said. "We don't experience that too often. We kind of got energy from all the Illinois fans who want to play us."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Penn State Clubhouse
Ohio State Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Titus Ivory hits the running jumper in the lane.
avi: 442 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Titus Ivory puts up a tough runner over two defenders.
avi: 423 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Titus Ivory with an awesome ball fake.
avi: 744 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Jarrett Stephens talks about the importance of beating Ohio State.
wav: 177 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Coach Jerry Dunn is proud of his team.
wav: 123 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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