Close counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, not basketball.
With 10:52 left in the second half of Saturday's Big Ten match-up at the Bryce Jordan Center, Sharif Chambliss hit a three-pointer to bring the Penn State men's basketball team (5-11, 0-5 Big Ten) within two points of Illinois (14-3, 4-2). It was that close. But the Fighting Illini came right back, scored an easy lay-up, and never looked back. Within three minutes, Illinois was back up by 16, and the game was essentially over. The final was 75-63 in favor of the Illini. A key play during that stretch occurred when Robert Summers tipped a pass for an apparent steal and tried to run the ball down. Illinois center Nick Smith forced his way to the ball first, causing Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn and the BJC crowd to erupt in anger over an un-called foul.
Smith got the ball to freshman Deron Williams, who found Sean Harrington for a wide-open three-pointer, which he calmly sank to make the score 55-46. The boos continued as Penn State called a time-out and Dunn continued his verbal assault on the officials. Clearly, the play deflated the hopes of the Nittany Lions, who were down by as many as 19 in the first half.
"We were battling, and that was just a dagger," said Penn State freshman Aaron Johnson. "We were just fighting and fighting, kept chipping and chipping, and that was just a great shot."
The statistic that tells the real story of the game, however, is points in the paint. Illinois scored 50 points from within the key, while the Lions scored just 26. Time and time again, Penn State players fronted the Illinois big men, and the Illinois guards calmly lobbed the ball over them for an easy two points. The Illini shot 57 percent for the game, showing how effective their offense was, and freshman guard Dee Brown had 11 assists. Especially effective in the paint was freshman James Augustine, who was 9-of-14 while scoring 19 points and racking up 12 rebounds, five on the offensive glass.
"James had a heck of a game," Illinois men's basketball Bill Self said. "Certainly in the first half we got a lot of easy baskets off the high-low."
Amazingly, Illinois dominated the paint while its best player was having one of the worst games of his career. Big Ten scoring leader and Illinois senior forward Brian Cook was in foul trouble right from the start, and played just 17 minutes. He did end up scoring 11 points, including two low-post buckets in the closing minutes to put the game away for good. Self was surprised by how well his team did despite Cook's problems.
"Brian got off to a bad start, he was rushing everything," Self said. "We got in a jam without Brian, and we got out of it without Brian." Dunn acknowledged that his team's 0-5 Big Ten record, the worst start Penn State has had since joining the conference, is starting to get to his players.
"We all get frustrated, when we get as close as we get," he said. "We just have to continue to reinforce what we're doing well." Self was quick to applaud Penn State's effort on its home court, and was especially impressed with Johnson, the freshman walk-on.
"I think he's a stud, I bet he's having a ball," Self said. "He's tough, he's hard-nosed and he's playing like there's nothing to lose." Johnson agreed with the assessment, but would like some wins to add to his experience. "This is the best time of my life, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." he said. "Game day, this is what I'm here for. I'm having a great time -- we just have to start winning, it will be even better."
