No. 12 Illinois men’s basketball was unable to break its losing streak to Penn State on Wednesday night, and a disastrous close to the game saw it on the wrong side of a 90-89 scoreline. The Illini are now 19-7 overall and 10-5 in the Big Ten Conference.
There were no surprises for Illinois’ starting five, as fifth-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr., sophomore guard Ty Rodgers, senior forward Coleman Hawkins and graduate student forwards Marcus Domask and Quincy Guerrier.
Despite winning the opening tipoff, it was a rough start for the visiting Illini as the Nittany Lions got going on a 9-2 run. To the Rec Hall’s delight, Penn State enjoyed an uber-efficient start shooting from the field, scoring its first five attempts as Illinois struggled to recover.
The Nittany Lions were able to maintain their healthy lead over the Illini during the vast majority of the first half. However, entering the final five minutes, the momentum began to shift with the Illini beginning to pick up steam. Led by Shannon and Domask, the visitors were able to battle their way back into the contest after putting together multiple extended scoring runs.
Illinois claimed its first lead of the night at the 4:15 mark after a fastbreak drive to the basket was finished off by Shannon. The Illini took advantage of the muted home crowd and continued to chug away offensively, digging the Nittany Lions into an ever-growing deficit on the floor.
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Heading into the halftime break, Illinois, who found itself down by as much as nine at one point, led Penn State 48-41.
The start of the second half essentially saw a near-flipped version of the first, with the Illini now in control of the game with a double-digit advantage for much of the period. A Shannon dunk lifted the visitors to a 14-point lead with 15:59 remaining in the game, with the Chicago native going head-to-head with the Nittany Lions on nearly every possession. The guard finished with a career-high 35 points in University Park.
However, the good times didn’t last for Illinois as Penn State’s Zach Hicks began to heat up in the final minutes of the contest. The forward knocked down big shots, critically from beyond the arc, to help the Nittany Lions claw their way back within single digits.
The Illini were unable to put a halt to the newfound momentum and with three seconds left on the clock, Hicks was sent to the line for a chance to seal the contest as a win for the Nittany Lions. The forward did not miss any of his three attempts, and a now 8-0 scoring run for Penn State saw it win the game 90-89 at the final buzzer.
The loss will go down as the fourth straight defeat against the Nittany Lions for the Illini.
Illinois will be back in action on Saturday, returning to Champaign for a showdown with Iowa. The game will tip off at 1:15 p.m. CT as the Illini hunt for their 20th victory of the 2023-24 season.
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