Feb. 17, 2009
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Feb. 17, 2009 - In a season of road game firsts (most notably wins at Michigan State and Indiana) the Penn State Nittany Lions (18-8; 7-6 Big Ten) will look to add one more when they travel to No. 18/16 Illinois (21-5; 9-4 Big Ten) for a 7:00 p.m. tip Wednesday on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State, 4-4 on the road this year, has downed Illinois in each of its last two trips to Champaign and a third-straight win on a Big Ten opponent's home floor would mark a first for the program. It would also mark Penn State's third Big Ten road win of the season, equaling the program's most ever.
A win surely won't come easy as Illinois enters the game with a Top 20 national ranking and standing second in the Big Ten. The last four games the two programs have played have been decided by an average of three points, including a pair of one-point wins (one for each side) in the last two meetings.
Penn State guard Talor Battle, the Big Ten's leading scorer, returned to his standout form this season scoring 21 points to lead Penn State over Minnesota on Saturday, his 12th 20-point outing of the season. Stanley Pringle posted 13 in the game and hit 3-of-6 from three to remain the Big Ten's leader in three-point percentage at 47 percent. Pringle has excelled on the road this season posting three 20-point games, including a career-high 26 at Wisconsin.
The Illini bring a three-game winning streak into Wednesday having downed Northwestern (60-59) and Indiana (65-52) on the road in their last two games. They are 6-0 at home in the Big Ten and 13-1 on the season having lost a close, 76-74, game to Clemson (currently ranked No. 13) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Illini have four players averaging double-figures led by guard Demetri McCamey at 12.0 ppg. Sophomore Mike Davis has been a standout posting 10.8 ppg and a Big Ten leading 7.8 rpg. Center Mike Tisdale (7-1) gives the Illini size in the lane and helps contribute to their Big Ten leading 56.4 points allowed per game. The Illini are also the second-best shooting team in the Big Ten at 46.6 percent and have the top three-point percentage defense allowing opponents to shoot just 29.1 percent.