Vs. Pennsylvania State

WOW


Illini Nation thought that the loss @ Minnesota was bad. That loss looks like we got beat by Oklahoma compared to the atrocity that happened tonight. It's one thing to lose against Penn St in basketball...it's another to lose to them at home. Who do they think they are and where does this confidence come from?

Oh, that's right, it comes from that fateful February night in 2007. The one where the Illini were ranked. The one where Dee Brown and James Augustine were still on the team. The one where the Illini held a 15 point lead at half time. That lead disappeared in the final 20 minutes and gave way to the most embarrassing finish the Orange Krush has ever been a part of. For those that don't remember, or drank away that night like I did, let me give you the last few moments of that game.

- I covered the basics...Illini up only to lose lead and go back/forth the rest of the way from about the 3 minute mark
- Penn St scores with less than 5 seconds left, prompting an Illini timeout
- Coach Weber draws up a very nice play, leaving Rich McBride with a good attempt from behind the arc
- McBride pulls up, drains it...Krush storms the court (this is already embarassing enough. The Illini were ranked and Penn St wasn't. How many times do the fans of a ranked team rush the court after a win that was supposed to happen? Exactly...never. Any member of Krush who touched the floor following this shot should have their fan card revoked.) Sure, it was a very exciting moment. One that shouldn't have happened, but did.
- Upon further review, officials say that the shot was after time had run out. The correct call.

The Orange Krush, one of the most prestigous student groups in the country had already made fools of themselves. This night; a 15 point come from behind victory has led to the Nittany Lions rolling off 3 straight victories in Assembly Hall. Michigan St or Wisconsin can't even say that in the last decade.



As for tonights game, it was just ugly. If I'm a Penn St fan, I'm just happy we won. Both teams were horrible. This wasn't even a defensive battle. The Illini played their solid defense. Taylor Battle got his first shot during transition and with Mike Davis guarding him. He ended up with a mere 11pts on 3/11 shooting...4 of which from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds. Jamelle Cornley...only 5pts on 2/8 shooting. That's holding the top 2 scorers to 16 points! Granted it was nearly half of their scoring, but holding a teams scoring options to 16 points usually wins ball games.

The problem Illinois faced tonight was that their shots simply weren't falling. Coach Weber can't be too upset with the overall performance. The Illini got open shots, but couldn't hit on them. It was....I can't even think of a good word for it. It's hard to describe or figure out why an open shot doesn't go in.

In the first half the Illini were either having trouble getting the ball inside or just weren't wanting to. When they did, Mike Tisdale's hook wasn't going in. When the team had open looks beyond the arc, they got nothing. Alex Legion tried to find something, but couldn't. Trent Meacham tried, but nothing. Mike Davis made his first shot from the elbow, and then nothing consistent the rest of the way. I've simply run out of ways to show how this team couldn't hit water if it jumped out of a boat. Bad analogy, but the truth. Finally, this team shot zero free throws tonight. ZERO. The guards drive, hit the box, and turn around. They don't force contact or even attempt a shot. They've made up their mind the minute they get around their defender. Demetri McCamey had too many drives tonight where he would jump and have nowhere to go with the ball. His luck is starting to run out. The team relys on the jump shot too much, and tonight it really killed them. If there's any good that came out of the offensive version of the Illini tonight it's that the assisted on 10/15 made baskets! And I almost forgot...Jeff Jordan making his one shot attempt of the game. This is maybe his third straight game doing that? He'll be real good next year...maybe this year, who knows.

The only good was the team defense. Like I said, Battle and Cornley had 16 points. The team forced 13 turnovers. It took Cornley alot of time to start recognizing the double-team and passing out of it. Chester did a wonderful job once again on the defensive end. Honestly, unless him or Chris Kramer of Purdue do something special in the last 5 games, they need to share the Big10 Defensive Player Award. I loathe Kramer, but can't argue against the fact he's a great defender. I hope Chester can limit Evan Turner, or Sunday will be bad.

That's a wrap for tonight. I'm gonna do some minor drinking, but the majority of damage will be done this weekend. This loss just cemented the fact of me going to St. Louis for Mardi Gras. Last time I was there the Illini won. Hopefully my presence in that city leads to an Illini victory in Columbus on Sunday.