Penn State Basketball hun tough, but fell short of upsetting No. 20 Illinois Thursday
Another strong road effort falls short as Penn State loses at #20 Illinois by a final score of 60-55.
Penn State Basketball (12-15, 7-12) lost the ability to control their own destiny for a first round by in the Big Ten Tournament with the loss.
The Nittany Lions will need a win and Maryland loss at Michigan State this weekend to avoid the 11 seed and a Wednesday game in the Big Ten Tournament. The win for the Fighting Illini (21-8, 14-5) keeps them alive for a share of the regluar season conference crown.
Penn State Basketball fell to 5-7 in conference games decided in the final few possessions with this loss. Due to their slow down style of basketball (only 5 schools player slower in all of Division 1), less possessions will almost always guarantee a closer game. 5-7 is a pretty fair and reflective record (for this sub .500 Penn State) in those games, but that doesn’t make this loss any easier to swallow.
The loss away from home is a familiar refrain for the Nittany Lions on the road, moving to 1-9 on the road this year.
Jalen Pickett led Penn State Basketball in scoring with 18 points and added seven assists and five rebounds, his most complete game in a few weeks, although he had two costly end of shot clock possessions late in the game that proved costly for the Nittany Lions comeback efforts.
Penn State inserted a now healthy Greg Lee (9 points, 5 rebounds) in the starting lineup, replacing Myles Dread.
The remaining four starters were the same (Dallion Johnson, Seth Lundy, Pickett and John Harrar). The Nittany Lions usually reliable defense was going to have their hands full with the up tempo Fighting Illini offense.
A Caleb Dorsey three cut the Illini lead to 10-9, who is making the most of his very late season playing time (perhaps Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry’s way of begining the inevitable re-recruitment process after not playing him most of the year). Lundy’s second incredibly difficult step-back three followed by a Greg Lee baby hook capped a 7-0 scoring run, giving Penn State an 18-17 lead with just over nine minutes to go with the Lions shooting a scorching 58.3% from the field. Penn State continued to pack the paint to take Cockburn out of the game, daring the Illini to beat them from the perimeter.
A Jalen Pickett three (with the shot clock running down, no surprise) gave PSU their largest lead of the game (three), but a turnover out of Shrewsberry’s ‘use-it-or-lost-it’ timeout, two Illini free throws and another turnover cut the Penn State lead 30-29 at the half. Despite being CRUSHED on the glass (20-12), their hot shooting (52.2% from the field, 45.5% from three) combined with the Fighting Illini’s putrid 5-15 three point shooting allowed the Nittany Lions to head into the halftime tunnel with the lead.
The Fighting Illini missed four of their first five three point attempts but a Trent Frazier and-1 gave them a 3 point lead with 14 minutes to go but Lundy answered with his third three of the game. A ridiculous (even for his standards) banked in three by Jalen Pickett was waived off, coming after the shot clock expired and back to back Illni buckets pushed the lead to 5, forcing a Shrewsberry timeout with 9:17 to go.
The Nittany Lions respoded immediately with a 6-0 run, including Harrar’s first two buckets (on his first two shot attempts) of the game and a Dallion Johnson three gave PSU a stunning two point lead! Illinois answered with two free throws and a three pointer, but PSU fought for three offensive rebounds and after a fortunate charge/block call went their way, the Nittany Lions had possession coming out of the final media timeout, down just three.
Out of the timeout, Penn State did what they always do and the forced Pickett fadeaway as the shot clock expired airballed, shot clock violation against Penn State. Illinois missed their next two shots but Penn State did the same when Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood called timeout up 55-52 with 1:33 to go.
Illinois got a great look but missed a three from the top of the key, giving the Nittany Lions life. Lundy forced a contested three pointer that clanged off the rim but after a stunning replay review, the officials determined possession stays with Penn State. TV replays showed VERY differently as the ball was clearly off of Harrar.
Penn State got a GREAT look but Dread’s open three clanged off the rim. Illinois ran down the clock and forced a Penn State foul with 14.0 seconds left. If Penn State wanted to foul, they should have done so right away, allowing Illinois to waste previous time. Frazier rolled in the front end of the one-in-one and the Fighting Illini out-muscled Penn State for their 10th offensive rebound, all but sealing the game. Penn State was forced to foul and Illinois made both free throws.
Dallion Johnson drained a three with 6.9 seconds left, forcing Illinois to inbounds and make one more free throw. The Fighting Illini did just that with ease.
Penn State finishes the regular season this Sunday heading to Rutgers at 12:00 pm on the Big Ten Network.