Penn State beats Illinois in double overtime

When Illinois went ahead late in regulation, Penn State coach Patrick Chambers told his team to get the next stop, to worry about the next play and move on.

The Nittany Lions couldn’t do anything about the turnovers and mistakes that helped the Fighting Illini take control. In huddles down the stretch, Chambers tried to hammer that point home with the help of senior leader Brandon Taylor. Chambers wanted his team to stay positive despite the deficit on the scoreboard.

“They never wavered,” Chambers said. “They had laser-like focus.”

That proved crucial Sunday afternoon as the Nittany Lions outlasted Illinois for an 86-79 win in double overtime at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State’s Shep Garner finished with 22 points, six assists and five rebounds, and Taylor recorded a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Josh Reaves had 13 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals, and Donovon Jack added 10 points in the final game of the regular season.

Malcolm Hill led Illinois (13-18, 5-13) with 39 points and 13 rebounds.

It was the Penn State’s seventh Big Ten win — the most in five seasons under Chambers — and clinched a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament. The Nittany Lions (16-15, 7-11) will be the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament, setting up a matchup with No. 7 seed Ohio State at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

“It gives yourself a chance,” Chambers said of earning the bye. “And we have one more day of rest and then you start preparing here and then you go out a day later. It’s terrific and we are fired up about it.”

The Nittany Lions overcame their share of mistakes and missed opportunities to beat Illinois.

Penn State led by 10 points with 10 minutes left in regulation and held an eight-point lead with five minutes remaining. Illinois cut Penn State’s lead to 61-57 after a steal by Illinois guard Khalid Lewis led to a transition layup by Jalen Coleman-Lands. Lewis came up with another steal and raced down the court for a breakaway opportunity.

Garner fouled him, and Lewis knocked down a pair of free throws to bring his team within one point. After Hill was fouled on a 3-point shot attempt, he hit two free throws to give Illinois a 64-63 lead.

That set the stage for a back-and-forth final two minutes, with the Fighting Illini taking a 67-65 lead with 27.0 seconds left. Penn State took a timeout with 22.7 seconds left, and Garner finished through a foul with 14.0 seconds to go.

But his go-ahead free throw attempt rolled out.

Illinois failed to get a shot off on the final possession, sending the game to overtime.

Garner embraced the message of the team’s huddles late in the game to refocus for the extra period.

“My coaches and my teammates, they told me to get over it,” Garner said. “Power clap and move on. That’s our thing. We power clap and we move on and it works.”

His teammates took the same approach in the overtimes.

“We could have put our heads down when Shep missed his free throw or somebody turned the ball over or anything,” Taylor said. “We didn’t put our heads down. We stayed together and we stick together through everything.”

The Penn State guard bounced back to hit the biggest shot of the first overtime.

His 3-pointer with 2:23 remaining gave the Nittany Lions a 72-70 lead.

Illinois couldn’t pull even, missing two jumpers after Garner’s 3. But Penn State couldn’t put the game away, missing two layups.

On the Fighting Illini’s ensuing possession, Hill was fouled with 21.3 seconds left. He sank both free throws to tie the game.

Taylor’s deep 3-point shot at the buzzer was short.

And the teams went to a second overtime.

Penn State struck first with a 3-pointer by Payton Banks and led the entire period to seal a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

“It shows the hard work that we’ve put in,” Taylor said. “We’ve had a lot of long days and it shows and I think everybody top to bottom, we’ve done a great job and we come in every day and we have a great attitude and we keep working no matter what.”

Notes: Ohio State beat Penn State 66-46 on Jan. 25. The winner of the Penn State-Ohio State matchup will face No. 2 seed Michigan State on Friday. The tournament starts with two games Wednesday. ... It is the first time in program history that the Nittany Lions have earned a bye in the Big Ten tournament. ... Penn State shot 24 for 30 from the foul line and went 10 for 23 from 3-point range. Illinois went 21 for 24 at the line and 4 for 16 from deep. ... Jordan Dickerson led Penn State with four blocks.

This story was originally published March 6, 2016 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Penn State beats Illinois in double overtime."