How Penn State men’s basketball lost to Illinois on the road in a close game
Penn State men’s basketball suffered a close loss Thursday night on the road, falling to the No. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini, 60-55.
Illinois looked like it would pull away early from the Nittany Lions, going up 8-2 in the early going thanks to two 3-pointers to open their scoring.
They quickly pushed back and never allowed the lead to grow to double digits when Illinois led in the first 20 minutes. In fact, they pushed enough to take the lead themselves on the back of senior guard Jalen Pickett.
Pickett ran plenty of offense out of the pick and roll in the first half, finding his teammates on those rolls for easy buckets around the rim. He was able to use the space created in those actions to get his own shot off, making him a threat as a passer and a scorer.
His ability to find those opportunities led to him scoring 10 points and dishing out three assists in the half — a half in which Penn State took a 30-29 lead.
Defensively the team relied on stopping Illinois center Kofi Cockburn and it paid off early. He only got three shots off in the half, scoring four points and pulling down four rebounds.
The second half included much of the same, with the two defenses leading the way on both ends of the court. Penn State relinquished its lead, but was able to prevent Illinois from pulling away, even again taking the lead with 7:40 left in the contest.
The two teams remained on the seesaw, trading blows in a game that continued to stay close. The Lions relied on their staunch defense, with the Illini using their 3-point shooting to make timely shots and keep earning the lead back.
However, Penn State was unable to close out the win thanks to more timely scoring by Illinois than the NIttany Lions had.
Player of the game
Senior guard Jalen Pickett: The Nittany Lions relied heavily on their best offensive player to get them shots. Pickett found his way to his favorite spots on the court, earning post-ups and short jumpers from the mid-range. He was able to consistently get to those positions on the court because of his methodical pace and ability to create space with his size off the dribble. The senior guard didn’t do it on his own either, creating looks for his teammates in the pick and roll, giving them easy looks around the rim and in the paint. Pickett was the type of offensive engine the Nittany Lions needed to keep it close with the Illini.
Stat of the game
14: That’s how many more free throws Illinois made and attempted than Penn State in Thursday night’s game. The Illini were able to draw contact and put themselves at the stripe with drives to the rim and post ups from center Kofi Cockburn. The Nittany Lions were unable to do either of those things, and when they did get in position to, they didn’t get the calls they needed to make a difference. Part of the issue for Penn State is a lack of ball handling and players who can attack the rim to put pressure on the officials to make those foul calls.
Up next
at Rutgers: The Nittany Lions will spend their last day of the regular season on the road. They’ll travel to Piscataway for a Sunday matchup with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike’s Arena. The two teams previously played this season, when Penn State defeated them at home, 66-49.
The Scarlet Knights have had a strong run of play since losing the game, beating the likes of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana since the loss. They’re 17-12 overall and 11-8 in Big Ten play this season.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 9:28 PM.
