Illinois Basketball: Illini swept by Penn State behind Jalen Pickett onslaught

Jalen Pickett’s 41 points propelled Penn State to a sweep of the Illinois basketball team, winning 93-81 and putting the Illini in must-win mode.

Prior to Tuesday night’s Big Ten Valentine’s Day tilt between Penn State and the Illini at Bryce-Jordan Center, the Nittany Lions were 10-1 when shooting better than 40% from behind the three-point arc and 4-10 below that threshold.

A 93-81 Penn State victory kept the percentage streak alive and saw an Illini team searching for answers from the opening tip. The defending Big Ten regular season champions were outdone by Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy, who combined for 56 of the team’s total points.

41 points of the 93 that Penn State scored came from Pickett, a Big Ten and season-high mark for the senior guard. He helped give the Nittany Lions their first season sweep against Illinois since the 2018-19 season, which was the last time the Illini failed to reach March Madness.

Similarly to the game in Champaign that took place in December 2022, Penn State dominated the offensive end and never took their foot off the gas pedal. After an early three-point contest saw the momentum switch back and forth, the Nittany Lions got hot from behind the arc and shot 42.9% compared to a measly 26.9% for Illinois.

A 7-0 first-half run opened the floodgates for what would be a long night in State College, as the Nittany Lions took full advantage of defensive mismatches and made Coleman Hawkins and Terrence Shannon Jr. work extra hard to contain Penn State’s shooters, but it was to no avail.

As 3.5-point underdogs, the Nittany Lions went into the halftime locker room with a commanding 13-point edge, 53-40. The closest the Illini would get for a chance at a comeback was nine points, as they trailed 72-63 at the 10:14 mark of regulation.

The second half saw both teams play neck-and-neck. Illinois attempted to claw their way back in, but the Nittany Lions, who had lost four-straight prior to the rematch with the Orange and Blue, forced eight total turnovers to prevent any hope of a late rally.

Brad Underwood was blunt after the loss, as little to no conversation was had immediately after departing the floor, and he sees concerning signs on the defensive end.

"“When you don’t play very hard [you are bound to lose],” Underwood said. “We didn’t put up fight on the defensive end. They exploited us. You have to communicate to be a good defensive team. It’s just one of those deals. We’re not mature enough to handle this.”"

Shannon Jr. led all Illinois scorers with 20 points, while Jayden Epps and Hawkins added 12 each. Luke Goode was held to just three points, as was RJ Melendez, who returned to game action for the first time in over a week.

The home stretch draws closer for the Illinois basketball program.

The Illinois loss put their Big Ten regular season title chances on life support, as the Orange and Blue fell to 17-8 overall and 8-6 in league play. Penn State, which needs every win they can get to stay in the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation, improved to 15-11 and 6-9 in league action with five regular season games left to play.

To make matters even more complicated, the Illini now find themselves in a four-way fourth-place tie with Maryland, Iowa, and Michigan State. The Orange and Blue hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Spartans but lost to both the Hawkeyes and Terrapins. With a four-way tie, the tiebreaker is the combined records of all tied teams against each other. Illinois would lose out on this tiebreaker, as we sit at 1-2 against the tied teams. Iowa and Michigan State are both 2-1, and Maryland is 1-2.

As far as the top half is concerned, Northwestern hosts Indiana Wednesday night, as the winner will earn a firm hold on second place. Purdue has dropped two spots to No. 3 in the latest men’s AP top 25 and has a three-game first-place cushion in Big Ten play.

The Illini will have to turn the page rather quickly, as another rematch will await them Saturday against the Hoosiers, who have won three-straight, including a nail-biting one-pointer against Michigan, 62-61, just four days ago.

After the weekend wraps up, Illinois returns home for the bulk of their February slate, as they will host two teams in a three-day span, Minnesota on February 20 and Northwestern on February 23. The Illini will then travel to Ohio State on February 26 to close out the month.

At the moment, however, the focus is remaining on the conference title race, as there is no room for error moving forward. Tip-off against Indiana is at 11 a.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN.