Hard-luck cagers face bottom-dwelling Illini

By VITO FORLENZA
Collegian Staff Writer

They currently look the same on paper, from inexperience to records, but on the court they were supposed to be very different.

But at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill., Big Ten cellar-dwellers Penn State and Illinois will find out exactly how alike they really are.

After a posting an 8-2 non-conference record, a mark which included a shocking upset of then-No. 10 Temple, and splitting a pair of conference games to open the Big Ten season, Penn State seemed to have fielded a young team capable of fighting for the conference's top slots.

Now, the Nittany Lions (9-7, 1-5 Big Ten) find themselves in the midst of a four-game losing streak that has them confused and all but officially eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

"Basically, we have no time to hang our heads," forward Carl Jackson said. "There's no point with 10 games left. We've been in almost every game.

"All we have to do to win is not get flustered and stay within ourselves."

The Lions' latest loss came at the hands of Northwestern Wednesday night. Wildcat center Evan Eschmeyer scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as Northwestern edged Penn State 62-60 in overtime.

Of Penn State's four losses in the streak, three have been decided by a combined eight points, including a pair of three-point home losses to then-No. 9 Purdue and then-No. 17 Wisconsin.

While the Lions are seeking to end their current funk, the Fighting Illini are just trying to register their first conference win.

Following Wednesday's 75-53 loss to No. 16 Wisconsin, the Illini (8-12, 0-6) are off to their worst conference start since 1912.

Although Illinois is also experiencing considerable trouble in the Big Ten, it is adversity many felt the Illini were destined to encounter.

Last season, Illini coach Lon Kruger led his team to a share of the Big Ten crown with a 13-3 conference record.

But with seven seniors, including five starters, and 84 percent of the Illini's offense gone from a year ago, Kruger once again is forced to compete in one of the country's top conferences with one of the country's youngest teams.

"With seven seniors you've got a lot of experience," Kruger said earlier this season. "The core of people who return from last year are real solid, but they obviously don't have a lot of (experience)."

But while the Lions may be looking at that inexperience as a means of finally returning to the winning ways they experienced in the non-conference portion of the season, the Illini will be looking at Penn State in the same light.

"In this league, anybody can beat anyone at any time," guard Titus Ivory said. "Every game is a challenge, and we have to step up to those challenges."