Illinois basketball traveled to University Park on a four-game losing streak prepared to face No. 9-ranked Penn State, who was on an eight-game win streak. But both of those streaks were slashed Tuesday night when the Illini took down the Nittany Lions, 62-56.

The Illini rode on the back of sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu, who was questionable to play due to a knee injury that occurred just a week ago. Dosunmu put up 24 points in 37 minutes of play to give the Illini their first win over a top-10 ranked team on the road since 2012.

Dosunmu strung together eight consecutive points for the Illini between the 9:14 and 7:25 mark of the second half to put the Illini at a seven-point advantage. Senior guard Andrès Feliz made a jumper prior to Dosunmu’s run, ending Penn State’s 9-0 scoring streak.

Freshman center Kofi Cockburn and Dosunmu scored four points a piece in the final seven minutes to secure the victory. Cockburn totaled 14 points for the Illini after getting in foul trouble just four minutes into the first half.

The Illini defense backed up Dosunmu’s dominant efforts by holding the Nittany Lions to 36.2% shooting from the field. Penn State averaged 44.7% shooting from the field on the season so far. Penn State was also held to a season-low four 3-pointers.

Junior guard Da’Monte Williams limited Penn State’s standout forward Lamar Stevens to 13 points on a season-low 27.3% shooting from the field. Stevens spent around eight minutes on the bench in the first half after picking up two fouls.

The Illini capitalized on their strong defensive efforts and scored 16 fast breakpoints. Illinois also won the rebounding battle 39-32 and scored nine second-chance points. Feliz and Cockburn each grabbed seven rebounds.

While the Illini victory came down to Donsunmu’s late-game production, their steady first half ignited the success. Illinois never trailed by more than four and led for more than nine minutes in the first half. Sophomore guard Alan Griffin headlined the first half with nine points, including two 3-pointers. The Illini scored the last four points of the first half — two free throws by Dosunmu and a layup from sophomore forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili — to take a 30-26 lead at halftime.

Illinois’s offense didn’t stall out of the halftime break as they worked up to an eight-point lead in the next five minutes. Cockburn scored Illinois’ first six points in the half; Dosunmu followed with Illinois’ next four points.

Penn State went on a 9-0 run with 10 minutes left to play to take its first and last lead of the second half.

Illinois joins Iowa, Michigan State, Rutgers and Wisconsin with a 9-6 Big Ten record. Penn State stays in second place in the Big Ten with a 10-5 conference record.

Illinois returns home to host Nebraska who is on a 10-game losing streak next Monday at the State Farm Center. Illinois will have just four regular-season games left following Monday’s matchup.

@gabby_h11

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