By Eric Smith
CNHI News Service
INDIANAPOLIS
Tue, May 13 2008
—
Matters were a bit more stressful than Illinois coach Bruce Weber had hoped for, but a bucket down low by Illini junior Chester Frazier with 3.8 seconds remaining kept his team alive for one more game, topping Penn State 64-63 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Frazier scored just seven points, but none were more important than the final two. Senior Brian Randle led the way for Illinois, scoring 17 points, and going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line before fouling out with 2:51 remaining in the contest.
“We found a way to win a close game,” Weber said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve won a close one. I’m just happy for the kids because we get to play another day.”
Illinois could not seem to shake off the pesky Nittany Lions all game, but with just over five minutes remaining in the game, the Illini extended their lead to 10 points at 62-52.
The young Penn State team was resilient, however, and scored 11 straight points to take a 63-62 lead at the 2:04 mark.
“We got ourselves in a hole in the second half,” Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. “But, I think we have a bunch of kids who really believe they can win and did a great job fighting back and putting us in a position to win the game.”
Freshman guard Talor Battle took the game into his own hands, scoring a team-high 17 points, five of which coming in the late-game surge. He also dished out five assists on the game.
“When you’re down like that, especially in a tournament where it’s kind of one game you’re out, I’ve just been taught my whole life to never stop fighting,” Battle said. “And when Coach called (plays for me), I tried to make great opportunities of them and convert and help my team come back.”
Penn State held an early lead thanks to red-hot shooting. The Lions converted on 57.7 percent of their attempts from the field in the first half, going 5-of-7 from the 3-point line.
A 3-pointer by Illinois freshman Demetri McCamey gave his team a 13-12 advantage — a lead Penn State wouldn’t take back until the final minutes.
Illinois continued to open up its lead, pulling out to a 28-17 score on a Frazier steal and breakaway. Senior center also contributed for the Illini, scoring 11 points with 10 rebounds for the game.
The Nittany Lions fought back before halftime. Freshman forward Andrew Jones scored eight of his 10 points in the first half, while junior guard Stanley Pringle put up eight of his 13 before the break. A buzzer-beating drive by Battle cut the deficit to two points to close out the half.
Each time the Illini tried pulling away throughout the second half, Penn State would claw right back. The Lions cut the deficit to three points or less on four occasions before Illinois junior guard Trent Meacham came out of a time out to hit a huge trifecta, giving his team a 56-49 lead.
Illinois used that momentum to grab the double-digit lead, as Penn State went ice cold. The Lions shot just 25 percent in the second half, dropping their field goal percentage to 39.7 for the game.
However, Weber’s team would go on a horrendous five-minute drought, mainly due to the Lions switching from their traditional 2-3 zone defense to a man-to-man. Penn State quickly climbed back to re-take the lead at 63-62.
“The last four minutes, going man-to-man, is like a gut-check and you have to dig deep and you have to contain the basketball and fight through screens, and that takes so much toughness,” Battle said.
Inside two minutes, neither team looked like it wanted to secure a win. They traded missed long-range shots and turnovers before Illinois found itself with an inbound opportunity under its own basket with seven seconds on the clock. Meacham received the pass, looked to shoot, but found the 6-foot-2 Frazier under the hoop for a nifty reverse lay-in.
“That play wasn’t designed for me to get the ball, but I thought Trent (Meacham) was going to shoot it with two people on him,” Frazier said. “But he made a good read and passed it back to me. I thought it was going to get blocked, so that’s why I reversed.”
Penn State decided against taking its remaining time out, and Battle drove down the court, heaving an errant shot from just inside the half-court line as the buzzer sounded.
Illinois escaped with the victory, and will regroup for the second-round game, today. The Illini will take on second-seed Purdue. The tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.
“(Purdue) has so many weapons and so many versatile players,” Weber said. “They’re very aggressive and physical on defense, so it’s going to be a different game.
Eric Smith writes for The Lebanon (Ind.) Reporter.
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