Penn State basketball has been enjoying quite the up-and-down regular season but the emotional highs have been plentiful when playing at home and even more so in historic venues. Earlier this season Penn State came away with a win in The Palestra in Philadelphia, but on Wednesday it played in a venue molded in the style of The Palestra that it once called home, Rec Hall. And the Rec Hall setting was perfect for what transpired Wednesday evening.
Penn State took on no. 12 Illinois with the Illini trying to keep pace and setup a possible opportunity to grab the top seed in the Big Ten basketball tournament. And for a while in the second half, it appeared Illinois was going to leave Rec Hall with an expected win, but the Nittany Lions turned on the defensive pressure to a level Illinois was not equipped to handle and Penn State stormed back in the final minutes for a stunner. Zach Hicks drained three free throws in the final seconds to complete a memorable comeback for the Nittany Lions and the defense prevented a good look for a last-second basket by the Illini, leading to a good old-fashioned court storming by the whiteout crowd in Rec Hall.
Here are some of the best photos from a memorable evening in Rec Hall.