Penn State men’s basketball has long promised, with varying degrees of belief buttressing said promises, that the program is just a few bounces, shots and moments away from getting over the hump. That the Nittany Lions could join the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin in having viable football and men’s basketball programs at the same time.
Over the years it has been —also to varying degrees — easy to buy into that notion. You can see things coming together, promising performances and moments of “almost.” For the most loyal and dedicated fans there has been observable improvement at every level of the program. If you’re looking for evidence Penn State men’s basketball may not always be condemned to simply existing, it is there to be found.
But as Penn State lost to Clemson in double-overtime on the road and then Michigan State behind an uninspired shooting performance at the Bryce Jordan Center, it was a reminder no amount of promising signs can make up for actual wins.
Enter a Saturday afternoon date with No. 17 Illinois, Penn State taking on an Illini team already 0-1 in Big Ten play but with conference title aspirations and talent, playing at home in a venue plenty of teams have failed to leave victorious. Penn State’s shooting potential has rendered the Nittany Lions with a chance in any game they play this year, but promise has long been the steward of disappointment.
And yet Penn State did everything it is capable of on Saturday. The Nittany Lions shot a blistering 62% from the field in the first half behind a 16-point effort by Jalen Pickett, who patiently worked his way around the paint with ease and became the catalyst to everything the Nittany Lions did, adding seven rebounds and six assists to his box score total. An additional 13 points by Seth Lundy in the opening half balanced out Pickett’s interior work along the way. A 6-for-9 shooting effort from beyond the arc in the first half provided the foundation to Penn State’s 47-38 halftime lead.
The second half was predictably less of a shooting display — 62% shooting a difficult thing to sustain — as it was a show of resilience. Illinois cut Penn State’s once 14-point lead in the second half to just five points with 13:08 to go. It was a seemingly obligatory moment of cold shooting for a Penn State team that lives and dies by its shooting outside the paint. The Illini had found their feet, the crowd had found its lungs, and for Penn State it seemed another moment of promise turning a moment of almost.
But with just over a second left on the shot clock, Bucknell transfer guard Andrew Funk hoisted up a deep three over two defenders, splashing it home to put Penn State up eight. Then it was a three by Funk in transition to put Penn State up 11. Then a corner three by Myles Dread to put Penn State up 14. A 9-0 run in just over 60 seconds of play to turn a five point lead into a 14 point margin.
Two more baskets turned an Illinois comeback effort into a 14-0 Penn State run. Illinois got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way and no closer than 13 in the final 5:14 of regulation. Funk joined Pickett in scoring 20 points while Lundy and Dread finished with 16 and 15 respectively. Freshman Evan Mahaffey’s lone three marked the fifth and final Penn State player to score.
Penn State improves to 7-3 on the year and 1-1 in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions will play three more out of conference games before returning to conference play on the first day of the new year against Iowa at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Time will tell if Saturday’s win was an aberration for this Penn State team or the sign that this merry band of shooters might just be for real. In any case, for a program that has made a living on the backs of promising moments, creating those moments behind actual wins will be a welcome change of pace for a fan base hopeful Micah Shrewsberry’s early success can turn into longterm change.
