PSU grabs ugly win from Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As the Assembly Hall emptied out, one hoarse fan shouted he wanted his money back.
Penn State coach Ed DeChellis seemed to understand, saying the game between his Nittany Lions and 18th-ranked Illinois might have set basketball back a few years to the days of founder James Naismith.
Come to think of it, "Naismith probably rolled over several times," DeChellis said after Penn State's 38-33 victory over No. 18 Illinois Wednesday night.
Naismith might have liked the score, which looked like something from a long-gone, pre-shot clock era.
But the game?
Probably not.
The teams' combined 71 points was the lowest total in Division I men's basketball since Monmouth beat Princeton 41-21 in 2005.
The Nittany Lions (19-8, 8-6 Big Ten) made just 28 percent of their shots, 13-46. During one 20-minute stretch, Penn State was 3-for-26.
The Illini (21-6, 9-5) were no better, shooting 30 percent (15-for-50) and committing 15 turnovers.
"I think we thought we'd get it going and it never got going," Illinois guard Trent Meacham said. "We couldn't finish anything. It was just a long night, from beginning to end."
The end for Illinois came in the game's final 16 seconds, when Talor Battle made four free throws to seal the win.
Minutes earlier, it appeared the Illini would get the victory.
Illinois used a 13-4 run that spanned 11 minutes around halftime to take a 19-17 lead about 3 minutes into the second half. The run was fueled, as much as anything, by Penn State's eight turnovers during that stretch.
The Illini then opened the gap to 29-20 with just over 10 minutes left on back-to-back 3-pointers by Meacham and sophomore Demetri McCamey.
Both brought an orange-clad crowd starved for points to their feet. Illinois was just 3-16 from 3-point range. But just as quickly as the Illini found their shooting touch they lost it and their edge.
Illinois made just one of its next six shots and turned the ball over three times in 6 minutes.
As a result, the Nittany Lions clawed back, taking the lead for good at 32-31 on a layup by Stanley Pringle with just over 4 minutes left.
"There weren't many clean looks. It was a great effort by us and we gave ourselves a chance," DeChellis said. "We haven't been scoring well so I told our kids to keep defending. I'm proud of our guys."
Battle, the game's leading scorer with 11 and the only player the score in double figures Wednesday, had six points during the run.
Chester Frazier and Meacham had seven points each to lead Illinois,
The win was Penn State's third straight at the Assembly Hall, and kept the Nittany Lions in the chase for an NCAA tournament bid.
