UNIVERSITY PARK — The senior sixth man stepped into a leading role and filled the scoring column for a second straight game. The junior point guard found his open teammates and made the big shot. And the sophomore guard not known for his defense made the game -winning defensive play.
Penn State and Illinois went down to the wire Thursday, as they have on most of the past few occasions, and the Nittany Lions made all the little plays they needed to emerge with a narrow 54-52 win in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Six of the last nine games in the series have been decided by two points or fewer, and Penn State has won four of those games.
“Coming into the game you know it's going to be a dogfight, be a last possession game,” senior guard Cammeron Woodyard said.
Woodyard led the Nittany Lions (10-10, 2-5 Big Ten), who beat a ranked opponent for the first time under Patrick Chambers, with 17 points and had four key points as the Nittany Lions took a 52-47 lead in the final 2:16.
Tim Frazier had 12 points, nine assists and drained a running floater with eight seconds remaining to account for the game’s final points. Jermaine Marshall blocked a layup attempt by Sam Maniscalco with one second remaining to preserve the Nittany Lions’ first win since a 65-45 defeat of Purdue on Jan. 5.
“I’m happy for Jermaine. I’ve been all over Jermaine about defending, rebounding, taking care of the little things, finishing plays, finishing defensive possessions,” Chambers said. “I’m really proud of him. He stepped up.”
The Fighting Illini (15-4, 4-2), who hadn’t played since a 79-64 upset of Ohio State on Jan. 10, shot 35 percent from the field and were 7 of 22 (32 percent) from 3-point range. Junior guard Brandon Paul had 20 points on 5 of 11 shooting and 7-foot-1 sophomore Meyers Leonard had 15, but only four other players scored. Maniscalco, who returned from a three-game absence due to an ankle injury, was scoreless in 27 minutes and freshman point guard Tracy Abrams, scoreless in 19 minutes, had trouble figuring out a changing Penn State defense early in the game.
“Too many guys didn’t play well,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said.
Woodyard, who made his first start in five games, scored 10 of Penn State's first 15 points and helped the Nittany Lions, who shot 41 percent, climb out of an early 17-9 deficit.
“Once Tim sees that I got it going, he’s finding me,” said Woodyard, who had a career-high 22 points in the previous game, Sunday’s home loss to Minnesota. “He’s finding me at times he knows I can just catch and shoot, where I’m comfortable, and I can just knock it down.”
Frazier drew a technical foul from Paul and made both free throws to draw the Nittany Lions within two, 19-17, and Penn State extended that possession with a Matt Glover rebound and took its first lead, 20-19, on a 3-pointer from Marshall. The Nittany Lions led 25-23 at the half despite shooting 35 percent from the field.
Penn State extended that lead to nine points, 35-26, on the strength of three baskets and an assist by Glover (seven points, seven rebounds) in the first five minutes of the second half. Illinois closed within a point on two different occasions and tied the score with Paul’s 3-pointer with 40 seconds left.
After a Penn State timeout, Frazier dribbled in the backcourt for nearly 20 seconds before Chambers took another timeout with 16 seconds to play. This time, the guard came off a high screen from Jon Graham and hit all net with his shot.
A student crowd that filled one half of the lower bowl of the Jordan Center — those wearing gray shirts to match Penn State’s gray uniforms were admitted free — provided a noisy environment on a night when some patrons stayed at home due to snowy weather.
“They keep supporting us through the bad times, so this one was for them,” Glover said of the students, then adding: “And for us, too.”
Notes: Penn State visits Indiana at noon Sunday. … Junior forward Billy Oliver did not play due to an unspecified illness. Chambers said he didn’t know if it was related to migraines or concussions, which have plagued Oliver in the past. Freshman Ross Travis replaced him in the starting lineup. … Freshman guard Trey Lewis missed his second straight game with a lower back injury. … San Antonio Spurs vice president of basketball operations and former Duke star Danny Ferry was in the stands scouting Thursday.
Jeff Rice can be reached at 231-4609.
