People have been pestering men's basketball coach Bruce Parkhill all year about his freshman point guard Dan Earl.

At the beginning of the season it was, "Is Earl ready to start at point guard?" When conference play began it was, "Is he ready for the Big Ten?" Recently it's been, "Why doesn't he shoot the ball more?"

So far, Earl has proved himself worthy as the starter. And he has held his own against some of the Big Ten's elite. Is he ready to start shooting more?

If the second half of Penn State's 83-65 loss to Illinois is any indication, then the questioners shall soon be silenced.

Earl turned a two-point, two-turnover first-half performance around in the second half and finished the game with a game- and career-high 22 points, to go along with three assists and zero second-half turnovers.

"He was a different player in the second half," Parkhill said of his point guard. "That's a real indication of the kind of player he is."

With fellow backcourt starter Michael Jennings out for the entire second half with a mild concussion, Earl had almost no choice but to assume a larger role. As Earl put it, not to take anything away from Jennings, he had confidence in himself and his teammates. He just knew that everyone had to "step it up" in the second half.

And step it up he did. Earl seemed to look for his shot more, and also came off screens well to find himself with more open shots. Was he a different player, as Parkhill suggested?

"I felt a little bit more comfortable," Earl explained, "but I think it was just a matter of my shots starting to fall a little bit."

Illinois Coach Lou Henson took notice as well. After all, if the coach's intuition serves him right, the 6-foot-3 freshman from Medford Lakes, N.J. will be giving him headaches in future Penn State-Illinois matchups.

"I really like him," Henson said. "He's going to be a really good player in this league."