The Illinois basketball team had everything going right on Saturday except for the final score of the game.
This was supposed to be a great day for the Orange and Blue. The 1989 Final Four team was in town to be celebrated. This was a game that should have been a big win for the Illini. The final score didn’t show that, though.
Penn State pretty much controlled this game from the tip. The two teams kept the game close for a while. Just 10 minutes into the game, the Nittany Lions had a three-point lead at 22-19. They would then go on a run that Illinois couldn’t stop. With five minutes to go in the first half, Penn State extended their lead to 34-22. The Illini did fight back some. They made a free throw and Aaron Jordan drained a three-pointer to go into the halftime locker room down 39-32.
The second half was the same for a little while. Illinois would eventually get the score back to single-digits late in the game. The Illini made a nice run, but they couldn’t take over the lead. Illinois would end up falling to Penn State 83-76.
Here are five observations from the Illini loss to Penn State.