The last time the Illinois men's basketball team played at The Bryce Jordan Center, the Fighting Illini escaped with a one-point victory.

Tonight, Penn State hopes to finally get its redemption.

The Nittany Lions (12-6, 2-5 Big Ten) have been struggling, coming off a four game road trip where Penn State found itself dropping three conference matchups, which included a 92-60 pounding by Illinois on Jan. 20.

The longest road stretch of the season is finished for the Lions, and although they would have wished to come out of the four games with a conference win, Penn State can only look ahead to a home stand that begins at 8 tonight in The Bryce Jordan Center.

"Illinois is arguably the best team in the league right now," Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn said. "They don't give you very good looks at the basket."

The Lions have been shooting the ball from the perimeter so poorly in its last few outings that open looks haven't always guaranteed made baskets. With a defense so stifling as the Illini's, Penn State has to get back in its offensive rhythm to have a shot to upset No. 6 Illinois (16-4, 6-1).

The Penn State backcourt shot a combined 5-for-22 against Wisconsin on Saturday and the Lions failed to score a field goal in the opening eight minutes of their first matchup with Illinois. Add that to some squabbling between Joe and Jon Crispin, and the Lions are looking at another long night of Big Ten basketball.

Even with all the cards stacked in the Illini's favor, first-year head coach Bill Self doesn't want to take anything for granted. Self is aware that Penn State still has a deadly arsenal that rarely has poor shooting performances in Happy Valley.

"It's a quick turnaround for us, playing them about 10 days ago," Self said. "So this game concerns me."

The Illini's lone conference loss came at the hands of Iowa, who beat them by 16 points on Jan. 11, but since then Illinois has rattled off four straight wins and is coming off a narrow 55-51 victory against Michigan.

If Penn State has any advantage in the game tonight, it is that it played so poorly the last time these two teams met that the Illini didn't get a good look at any of the Lions offense or defense to accurately gauge how good this Penn State team can be.

But Dunn said that Illinois is such a talented team, it will be very difficult to come out on top when the final buzzer sounds.

"They are a very deep team," the sixth-year coach said. "They are very long guys and really athletic."