Illini Survive Scary Ending, 64-63

The first round game of the Big 10 Tourney counts as a "W" and we move on to play Purdue tomorrow night. This was a near collapse by the Illini, who forgot how to score in the second half, and also struggled in the rebounding and free throw department as well in the last 20 minutes. But Chester Frazier was able to get a layup in the final seconds to pull it out. Box Score

For the Illini, Brian Randle looked really smooth on the offensive end, scoring and passing and hitting free throws to end up with a team-high 17 points. Brian did foul out at the end, but that's part of his game, so no worrying about that. Penn State was led by Talor Battle, who is a really outstanding guard as a freshman, almost impossible to stop on his drives. Pruitt played well, Meacham shot the ball well, and the Illini played just well enough to win.

Against Purdue, the Illini will need to step up their game in all aspects: offense needs to be more consistent, rebounding needs to be more solid, and defense will need to be tighter. Purdue beat the Illini twice already this year, so let's hope we can solve them tomorrow night. The Illini have nothing to lose by going all out and trying to advance. Purdue will be in the NCAAs either way, but are playing to improve their seeding.