Penn State's men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn must like the element of surprise, because in Saturday's loss to Illinois he shocked a lot of people.

In the 92-60 defeat to the Fighting Illini, Dunn replaced starting guard Jon Crispin with freshman Jamaal Tate to open the game against one of the best teams in the country.

The move surprised a lot of people including his own teammates.

"It surprised me, I really didn't expect it," Joe Crispin said.

While Dunn wanted to use Jon as the spark off the bench, starting Tate in a game against an Illinois might raise some questions, since the freshman has only averaged between seven and nine minutes in almost all of the games this season.

"I wanted to go with a bigger lineup to guard the perimeter," Dunn said yesterday.

However Tate obviously has not put up the numbers that Crispin has, let alone his lack of experience.

Not too long ago Crispin exploded for 26 points in the Penn State upset at Kentucky.

In that game Crispin had a career-high, and some thought it was supposed to be a sign of things to come. However, nearly two months after that impressive showing at Rupp Arena, Crispin got a surprise even he did not expect.

"I was told the day before that I was going to be taken out of the lineup," Crispin said. "It frustrates me. But I told him (Dunn) that I would still go in and play as hard as I can."

For the first seven minutes of the game Jon watched his team fall farther and farther behind the Illini and could do nothing about it.

The Lions' first field goal didn't come until 12:05 in the first half when Ndu Egekeze took a pass from Jon and dunked Penn State's first field goal.

The Lions struggled to get anything going and trailed 39-18 when they took the court in second half.

While some assumed Jon would be starting the second half, since Tate could only manage one point in the first half, it was Tate resuming the backcourt duties with Jon's brother Joe to open the half.

Crispin sat for the first five minutes of the second half before entering the game.

And when Crispin finally got his opportunity, he played well scoring 11 points on the afternoon, and making the most of his limited shots and playing time. He was 4-6 from the field and 3-4 from beyond the three-point arc.

Despite the loss, it was a pleasant sight for Penn State fans to see Crispin start getting some looks at the basket and take advantage of them.

"He (Dunn) said he wanted a spark coming off the bench," Crispin said. "That's fine. That was his decision. I really thought I haven't been much of a spark."

The reason for the move appeared odd since Crispin has not gotten as many looks as he did last season.

While Crispin tends to remain upbeat about what is happening, he is showing signs of frustration and is not too pleased with the situation he is in.

"I lost a lot of minutes," he said. "I don't know what that was for. I'm just not going to worry about it. I'm pretty confident I'll be back in the lineup sometime."