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Penn State advances in Big Ten Tournament: Wins thriller against Illinois

Penn State advances and prepares for a matchup with Northwestern.

What a game!

In a tournament that had seen the lower-seeded teams win all four games prior to Penn State tipping off, that could have been looked at as either a good or bad omen.

The 10th-seeded Nittany Lions faced the seventh-seeded Illini, who they had beaten twice this season. Coming into the game, the old adage that it’s hard to beat a team three times was prevalent.

That was put to bed Thursday night with Penn State winning 79-76 to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament for the second straight season.

As expected in a trilogy, the game was tight to start. During the first ten minutes of the game, there were four lead changes and two ties. That would be a theme throughout the game.

However, the ten-minute mark was when Penn State started to separate in the first half.

After leading 17-14, they held Illinois to six points over the next six minutes. With five and a half minutes remaining in the first half, Penn State held a nine point lead.

Then, it was Illinois’ turn to make their run.

Penn State was held to two points for the remainder of the first half. The Illini cut the lead to 31-30 at halftime.

The second half had the makings of an all-time Big Ten Tournament game.

Two minutes in, it was tied 34-34 and it was game on from there. The second half saw 12 lead changes and four ties.

Penn State looked like they were in big trouble at times. Playing in front of a pro-Illinois crowd in Chicago, the stadium erupted when the Illini took a 40-46 lead at the 14:18 mark.

It was all grit from the Nittany Lions as they battled back. [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag], who had a quiet scoring night, finished their 7-0 run to put Penn State back up 47-46.

From that point, it was a back and forth affair. Each team took the lead and then gave it up the next possession.

At the 6:30 mark, Pickett made a layup that put Penn State up for good. They never relinquished the lead for the rest of the game.

There was just enough separation that kept Illinois at arms length. This was punctuated by [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag]’s dagger three to put Penn State up eight with just under four minutes remaining.

Funk was sensational. He was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, 18 of them coming from his six three-pointers.

In a night that Pickett was quiet scoring the ball, seniors [autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] and [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] stepped up scoring 18 and 17 points respectively. Lundy finished with a double-double adding 10 rebounds.

Down the stretch, Penn State made things interesting when they couldn’t quite completely shut the door by missing multiple three throws.

But what’s a Penn State basketball game without some drama?

Illinois clawed their way back into the game, but their effort came up just short. Senior guard [autotag]Terrence Shannon Jr.[/autotag] was the Illini’s leading scorer with 19 points. Junior forward [autotag]Coleman Hawkins[/autotag] was a problem for Penn State all night and finished the game with 17 points.

This was a huge win for the Nittany Lions. It all but assures they’ve punched their ticket into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years.

But this team isn’t thinking about that right now.

They are still playing in the Big Ten Tournament and face a Northwestern team on Friday that they just beat.

That game is expected to tip off at 6:30 pm ET on Big Ten Network.

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Penn State, Jalen Pickett crush Illinois to stop losing streak

Jalen Pickett went off on Illinois to snap Penn State basketball’s losing streak.

Penn State’s offense was on full display at The Bryce Jordan Center on Tuesday night. They used their hot shooting night to beat Illinois 93-81.

This victory put a stop to the four-game losing streak Penn State had coming into the evening. The story of the game was [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag].

After the loss to Maryland over the weekend, coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] put the spotlight on Pickett.

Frustrated with the lack of foul calls Pickett has been receiving, Shrewsberry said, “That kid is one of the best players in our league. He’s being treated unfairly.”

Pickett was red-hot in the first half. He looked to attack and get himself involved in the offense early.

He finished the first half with 24 points, shooting 10 of 12 from the floor and 4 of 6 from three.

Pickett also scored his 2,000th career point in the first half after hitting a three. This is a major milestone for the senior guard who is in his second season at Penn State.

The rest of the team followed their senior guard’s performance. Penn State shot 56% in the first half from both the field and three-point land.

After trailing at halftime in all four of their previous games, the Nittany Lions took a 53-40 lead into the locker room.

The hot shooting continued for Penn State.

Pickett finished with 41 points, shooting 15-20 from the field and 5-9 from three. This set the Bryce Jordan Center record for most points scored in a single game.

He also became the third men’s player to score 40 points in a game for Penn State, joining Gene Harris and Jesse Arnelle.

Guard [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] added 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard [autotag]Kanye Clary[/autotag] continued his run of good play adding 12 points on 50% shooting.

The team finished the game shooting 57.9% from the field and 42.9% from three point range.

This was the response they needed at home, hosting Illinois who came into the game 8-2 in their last 10 games.

Senior guard [autotag]Terrence Shannon Jr.[/autotag] was the game’s second leading scorer with 20 points. The Illini also had four others in double digits, including starting forwards [autotag]Coleman Hawkins[/autotag] with 12 points, [autotag]Matthew Mayer[/autotag] with 11 points and guard [autotag]Jayden Epps[/autotag] with 12 points.

Penn State goes on the road for their next game. They will face Minnesota, Saturday night at 9 pm eastern on Big Ten Network.

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New pre-deadline 2023 mock has Boston Celtics drafting two forwards and a guard

Draft expert Jonathan Wasserman has put together a mock for the 2023 NBA draft that reflects the changes in the standings just ahead of the trade deadline.

NBA analysts and fans alike are fixated on the soon-to-come 2023 NBA trade deadline, as they ought to be even in the case of the Boston Celtics, who have as good of a case as any team to stand pat on Feb. 9 given their play so far this season has put them in pole position to win it all.

But draft experts are grinding away in their efforts to project what all 30 teams in the league will do with their respective draft assets, and the Celtics are no exception. To such an end, Bleacher Report draft expert Jonathan Wasserman has put together a mock for the 2023 NBA draft that reflects the changes in the standings just ahead of the trade deadline.

Let’s take a look at who he sees in green and white this summer via the trio of second round picks Boston has at their disposal in this draft.