Illinois Basketball: Illini trail Penn State 31-30 at halftime

Defensive breakdowns caused the Illinois basketball team to trail 31-30 at halftime against Penn State.

The Illini’s first half against Penn State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament was anything but pretty. Similarly to the last week of the regular season and the two games against the Nittany Lions, Illinois struggled to shoot from long-range again, shooting less than 50% from the field and trailing 31-30 at the break.

Illinois’ last lead came briefly at the 16:24 mark of the first half, as they failed to maintain consistency until the final few minutes.

Once again, Jalen Pickett is well on his way to having another big-time performance for Penn State. Pickett, who had 41 points in a 93-81 win against the Illini late in the regular season, already has 18 minutes of game action and hit a critical three-pointer to cushion Penn State’s lead.

Seth Lundy leads all scorers with 11 points. Cam Wynter has 10 of his own and has come up big for the Nittany Lions in the last two games with winning shots against Northwestern and Maryland. These wins sealed the No. 10 seed and heightened Penn State’s NCAA tournament chances.

The Illini will have to slow down Penn State’s offense to have a chance to win, as they trailed by as much as 24 against Purdue last Sunday.

What happens if Illinois basketball rallies to get a win?

If Illinois were to rally and get a victory, it would rematch Northwestern for the third time this season, as both teams split the regular season matchups.

The Illini took the second meeting in Champaign on February 23, trailing 37-19 at halftime before Terrence Shannon Jr.’s second-half outpour of 24 points sealed the comeback.