Penn State men’s basketball (3-6, 0-5 Big Ten) couldn’t handle No. 22 Illinois (10-5, 6-3 Big Ten) in Champaign Tuesday night. The Illini imposed their height on the undersized Nittany Lions, with Kofi Cockburn leading all scorers with 21 points.

Myreon Jones led Penn State with 20 points, scoring three of his four attempted three pointers. Seth Lundy came off the bench to score 13 points, while big man John Harrar once again had a big game on the boards, recording nine rebounds.

How It Happened

For the first time this season, Jim Ferry mixed things up with his starting five. Trent Buttrick entered the lineup, replacing sophomore Seth Lundy.

Illinois got off to a hot start, with the obvious intention of imposing its height. Seven-footer Kofi Cockburn scored the first five points of the game, but Myreon Jones was able to respond with five points himself early on. Trent Frazier hit an in-rhythm three to force an early Penn State timeout, with the Nittany Lions trailing 13-5 just four minutes in.

Penn State made the adjustment after the break, with Seth Lundy, Jones, and Myles Dread combining for four straight three pointers to tie the game at 17.

Illinois responded with a 10-0 run of its own, as Cockburn continued to impose himself. The Nittany Lion guards kept attempting to drive into the paint, but Cockburn either blocked or altered the shots on most occasions.

The Illini continued to shut the Nittany Lions down, forcing Ferry to experiment with new lineups. This led to both Abdou Tsimbila and Kyle McCloskey getting rare minutes late in the half; nonetheless, Illinois took a 42-28 lead into the locker room.

With just 2.7 seconds to play, a scuffle following Penn State’s possession led to a long deliberation from the referees. After nearly 10 minutes of review, Izaiah Brockington and DJ Gordon were given technicals for Penn State, while Illinois’ Da’monte Williams was also penalized.

At the start of the second half, Buttrick immediately found himself in foul trouble. He picked up two quick ones, getting the Bloomsburg native to four total fouls with 18 minutes to play.

Things didn’t improve for Penn State throughout the early stages of the second half. Trent Frazier and Cockburn linked up on multiple occasions to expand the Illini lead to 20 with 15 minutes to play.

With the game seemingly out of reach, Ferry elected to once again rotate typically underused players, with Gordon, McCloskey, and Patrick Kelly getting playing time.

Despite the deficit, Penn State didn’t give up. Jones hit a transition three and Brockington made a pair of free throws to make the score 70-55 with five minutes remaining.

It was an unremarkable finish to the contest. Penn State and Illinois traded buckets down the stretch to complete an Illini season sweep of the Nittany Lions, winning the final 79-65.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s long, coronavirus-induced break has definitely had an effect on the team’s mojo. At times, it appears as if the team is playing disconnected street ball, and Ferry’s squad is in deep need of a run of competitive games. Luckily for the Nittany Lions, the schedule will only continue to heat up, with two more games this week.
• John Harrar may have had a career–game two days ago, but Penn State was no match for Kofi Cockburn. If the Nittany Lions want to make any noise in the Big Ten this year, they will need to find a way to use an undersized squad to their advantage.
• If there was any silver lining in Champaign, it was Abdou Tsimbila. The freshman didn’t stuff the stat sheet, although four points, seven rebounds, and two steals far outweighs the Cameroonian’s previous performances. Tsimbila is still raw, but he is nonetheless the future of Penn State’s presence in the post. Ferry would do well in incorporating Tsimbila in the lineup.

What’s Next

Penn State will continue its rapid run of games on Thursday when Rutgers comes to the Bryce Jordan Center. The contest with the Scarlet Knights, the first rematch since the Myles Dread buzzer-beater, will tip off at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.