Illinois fans clasped their hands, as if silently appealing to the basketball gods, while players on the Fighting Illini had their faces dripping with desperation after letting a 16-point lead slip away -- 2.2 seconds left, down by one point.

And for a few minutes it looked like those prayers were answered.

As the buzzer sounded, the Nittany Lions' hearts sank with Rich McBride's late 3-point shot. The scoreboard read, "Illinois 68, Penn State 66." Assembly Hall boiled over in a mass frenzy, as the home crowd extended its arms in triumph before controversy reached its climax.

"I didn't know when the shot went in if it was good or not, and I didn't even wanna look either -- I just kinda waited for the crowd reaction," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said on the Penn State Sports Network.

DeChellis feared the worst when fans clad in orange and blue rushed the floor, and McBride nearly toppled over from hugs. The best Penn State could muster was a wave of "no good."

But two-and-a-half minutes later following a review, referee Gene Crawford declared the buzzer sounded before McBride got the shot off. Suddenly, the shoe was on the other foot.

The scoreboard again changed, this time for good: Penn State 66, Illinois 65.

The mood of the crowd transformed from one of ecstasy to one of sorrow. And, on the court, the Lions went from staring at their feet to Geary Claxton jumping into senior Travis Parker's arms and Parker burying his head into Claxton's shoulders, trying his best not to cry after breaking Illinois' national-best 33-game win streak at home.

"Man, in my life, I'd have to say this is one of the most exciting moments," Parker said.

It was an improbable comeback that Parker made a reality after hitting a close-range field goal following a board from Mike Walker's missed trey -- the shot gave the Lions their first lead with 8.5 seconds remaining in the game.

It would be the eventual gamewinner, but Parker said he began to really believe in the prospect of an upset at the four-minute mark with his team trailing by four.

"I guess a lot of people thought we were out of it, but we weren't thinking it was over," said Parker, who scored a game-high 21 points. "We were thinking we're gonna come back and win this. If we play with emotion and hustle, we were gonna win this game."

With 4:13 left, momentum swung in Penn State's favor after a key play that saw Claxton get fouled. The sophomore forward made his first free throw attempt before his second rimmed out. Parker then grabbed the quick offensive board and dished it out to Walker who sank an open trey to tie the score -- for the first time since it was 0-0.

"They didn't quit. They kept battling," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "Every time we would change our matchups, they would exploit our matchups."

Coming into the game, Illinois was favored by 19.5 points. And that spread looked more than attainable after starting the game on a 13-0 run and leading 39-25 at halftime.

But like a certain-overused biblical character, Penn State just wouldn't give up. The team nailed Illinois right between the eyes with a 13-2 run and just nine minutes left to play.

A few extra scoring opportunities didn't hurt, either. Penn State tallied 13 second-chance points compared to Illinois' three in the second half. That, coupled with the Lions' forcing nine turnovers in the same half, led to what one ESPN analyst heralded as the biggest upset of the season.

"That's a helluva statement," Walker said, his voice shaking. "This was the first time something like that happened to us -- it felt like we won a state championship."

'Unprecedented' Notes

Coming into the game DeChellis was 0-16 in February, 0-11 vs. ranked opponents and 0-46 when trailing at the five-minute mark ... No. 6 Illinois is the highest-ranked opponent Penn State has beaten on the road in its 110-year history ... It is the first win DeChellis has recorded over Illinois ... Penn State's last win over a ranked team was in the 2001 NCAA Tournament when it knocked off North Carolina.