With a long history of heartbreak and unexpected twists for the worse, it seems prudent to say that Penn State men’s basketball will have only officially made the NCAA Tournament if and when the selection committee makes the announcement on Sunday afternoon.
But facing yet another game that amounted to a must-win, No. 10 seed Penn State grinded out a 79-76 victory over No. 7 seed Illinois in their Big Ten Tournament opener on Thursday night in Chicago for a win that will likely be the finishing touches on an NCAA Tournament ticket. The program’s first since 2011.
Penn State looked the better team in the opening stages of regulation, getting scoring from Seth Lundy and Cam Wynter as the Nittany Lions pushed out to a 10-point lead with just over eight minutes to go in the half. On the whole Penn State would shoot a fairly effective 48.3% from the field but went just 2-for-8 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes of play. Star guard Jalen Pickett was also fairly quiet in the early going, scoring just three points, looking more tired than usual in the face of mounting minutes totals.
For its part, Illinois looked to avoid a third loss this season to Penn State and made good on its interior size, pulling down nine offensive rebounds in the first half for 12 second-chance points. Despite Penn State’s poise and confidence, the Illini leaned on a home crowd atmosphere in Chicago, finishing the first half on a 13-4 run to trail by just one point, 31-30 at the break.
The second half had all the hallmarks of postseason basketball as the teams traded baskets en route to 13 lead changes and referees did their part to stunt the flow of play with 30 personal fouls called in the second half alone. In any case with 7:28 to go in regulation the game was tied, and with 6:26 to play Jalen Pickett’s layup gave Penn State a two-point lead and the Nittany Lions never trailed again.
In fact Penn State finished off the game with a methodical 14-4 run to take a 72-60 lead with 1:51 to go. Andrew Funk made two of his six makes from beyond the arc in that span to continue to hold the Illini at bay. Illinois would charge in the final minute of regulation but a three at the buzzer would make the final score closer than it truly was.
All told Penn State got 17 points from Seth Lundy, 20 from Funk, 18 from the ever flashy Wynter and 12 more from a clearly tired but ever persistent Pickett. Freshman Kanye Clary also provided an unexpected eight-point spark on the night.
It wasn’t always pretty, but Penn State exemplified the tenacity of a team so close to a goal, and with the poise of a program that has been playing bubble-basketball for the better part of the past month. The Nittany Lions finished the night having shot 52% from the field while having turned a 5-9 record in Big Ten play into a 10-10 mark.
The Nittany Lions will face Northwestern on Friday evening at 6:30 EST in the Big Ten quarterfinals, hopeful that Sunday will bring good news, no matter the result.
