Five takeaways from Penn State basketball’s upset win over No. 17 Illinois on the road
Penn State went into one of the toughest Big Ten environments Saturday afternoon and walked out with a blowout victory. The Nittany Lions knocked off the No. 17 Illinois Fighting Illini, 74-59, to move to 7-3 on the season and 1-1 in the Big Ten.
Here are five takeaways from the Nittany Lions’ win in Champaign, Ill.
Penn State goes small and stays small
The Nittany Lions went to a new starting lineup Saturday, moving Kebba Njie to the bench and going to Myles Dread. That left Seth Lundy as the tallest starter at 6-foot-6, but gave the group more than enough shooting power. Dread helped get the offense going by hitting shots from beyond the arc, making three of his four attempts in the first half.
While the group may not make sense to those expecting slower games with more physical interior play, it does give Penn State advantages with speed and shooting that most Big Ten teams don’t have. It opened things up for the Nittany Lions and put them in position to compete with a team generally regarded as one of the best in the conference.
Freshmen get early run
Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry brought in a five-player class of freshmen, and four of them saw the court early on in Saturday’s game. Njie was joined by Evan Mahaffey, Demetrius Lilley and Kanye Clary on the floor in the first half, with Clary getting the most run.
This group will be the core of the Nittany Lions soon enough, and each player should only see their playing time increase as the season moves on. It’s a positive sign that Shrewsberry sees enough in the class this early that he trusted them in the team’s first road conference game — and in a hostile environment against a ranked team.
The results were a mixed bag, but the experience should only help the rest of the way.
Hot offensive start leads to halftime lead
The added energy from the freshmen and the smaller lineup helped propel the Nittany Lions to a 47-38 halftime lead. They were able to get going from beyond the arc after struggling from that range the last two games, and consistently found open shots. The team made six of its nine 3-point attempts in the first half and the freshmen helped the team get going in transition, but it was Jalen Pickett’s efficient scoring that was at the core of the performance.
Pickett didn’t attempt a shot from deep in the half, but made seven of his nine attempts from the field thanks to his post work. He backed down smaller guards and got to his spots in the paint to make shots. Pickett has been a force all season and was at his best all game against Illinois.
Andrew Funk’s response
Funk has been a big piece of Penn State’s offense this season after transferring in from Bucknell, but had struggled recently. He hadn’t hoisted nearly as many 3-pointers as he usually does, with only seven attempted over the team’s last two games. Unsurprisingly, the Nittany Lions lost both games with Funk only averaging eight points per game.
The senior guard responded against Illinois with one of his best games of the season. He scored 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, including making six of his nine attempts from deep. Funk was excellent off the ball, finding gaps in the Illinois defense and giving his teammates chances to get him the ball. He was one of the best players on the court Saturday and showed just how good the Nittany Lions can be when they have the ball.
Getting back to level in conference play
In the grand scheme of things, one road conference win won’t make or break a season. But given the timing and the margin of victory, Saturday’s win may end up being enormous for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions were coming off a difficult home loss to a Michigan State team that was struggling. They couldn’t get going on offense in that game, and another poor performance against Illinois would have meant three straight losses and a huge loss of momentum after a good start to the season.
But that didn’t happen.
Instead, they earned a win over one of the best teams in the conference in one of the most difficult places to play in the Big Ten. Not to mention, they made up for their home conference loss to the Spartans and are able to more easily attain a .500 record in conference play — a mark that should get the team in the NCAA Tournament.
