| DATE | Saturday, Jan. 31 | 1 p.m. ET |
| LOCATION | State Farm Center (Champaign, Ill.) |
| TV | BTN: Eric Collins (pxp), Jess Settles (analysis) | BTN2go |
| RADIO | Listen: Penn State Sports Network: Steve Jones (pxp), Dick Jerardi (analysis) |
| GAME NOTES | Penn State Notes | Illinois Notes |
| LIVE STATS | |
| BLOG | Basketball Blog |
| SOCIAL MEDIA | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | #PSUMBB |
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Jan. 30, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's basketball team looks for its third-consecutive Big Ten win when it takes on Illinois at 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT Saturday at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. The game will air on BTN with Eric Collins and Jess Settles on the call.
The Nittany Lions have won their last two games by outlasting Minnesota, 63-58, Wednesday and downing Rutgers by 28 points, 79-51, last Saturday. A year ago, Penn State also started 0-6 in league play before going on a three-game winning streak.
QUICK HITS
ILLINOIS | The Illini are 13-8 overall and 3-5 in Big Ten play. They have alternated wins and losses in the last seven games, coming off a 79-71 loss to Minnesota prior to a bye week [MORE: Page 2]
THE SERIES | Penn State and Illinois have met 40 times, with all but one meeting taking place as Big Ten foes. The Nittany Lions are 5-13 playing in Champaign.
LAST TWO GAMES | In the last two games, the Lions had a scoring margin of +16.5 and held both teams to an average of 14.1 points below their pregame season scoring average. Seven players scored 5.0 ppg or higher, led by D.J. Newbill's 17.5 ppg. and four players produced or tied career high points.
LEADER | Senior guard D.J. Newbill, the top scorer among the Power 5 conference players and fourth in Division I, has paced Penn State throughout the season with 21.5 ppg. Coming off first double-double of the season vs. Minnesota, he has 12 outings of 20-plus points and two with more than 30. He is 10 points away from 6th-place all-time in PSU career scoring and has the record for a three-year player.
SENIOR CLASS AWARD | D.J. Newbill was named one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, presented annually to a four-year student-athlete who excels in all four areas of classroom, community, character and competition. [seniorclassaward.com]
THE MATCHUP
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
- The Illini enter the weekend coming off a bye week and have a 13-8 record on the season and 3-5 mark in the Big Ten. They are 9-1 at home this season.
- Illinois' leading scorer Rayvonte Rice (17.2 ppg) has been sidelined the last six games with a hand injury. Malcolm Hill (14.0 ppg) and Kendrick Nunn (11.0) also have been producing double figures. Nunn has been the Illini's leading scorer in three of the last four games, averaging 20.3 points in that stretch.
- Illinois averaged 58.3 ppg over its first four Big Ten games, but has been putting up 70.8 ppg in the last four conference games, exceeding the 70-point mark three times.
- The Illini rank second in the nation in free throw percentage, shooting 79.6 percent as a team. They average 18.5 FT attempts per game on the season. In conference-only games, Illinois' free throw shooting is at 83.9 percent, ranked first in the Big Ten.
14-15 PLAYERS vs. THE ILLINI
Nine players on the current roster have seen action vs. the Illini with D.J. Newbill leading the way 12.7 ppg in three career meetings. He had 19 points vs. Illinois last season (2/9/14), which stands as the fifth-most pointsin the all-time series. Brandon Taylor is the leading rebounder with 5.3 boards per game
| PLAYER | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | MISC | PTS HIGH |
| D.J. Newbill | 3-3 | 12.7 | 3 | 2.7 apg | 19, vs ILL, 2/9/14 |
| J. Johnson | 2-0 | 11 | 2.5 | 50% 3FG | 18, at ILL, 1/4/14 |
| D. Jack | 2-2 | 8 | 5 | 2 assists | 8 (2x), last vs ILL, 2/9/14 |
| B. Taylor | 3-2 | 4 | 5.3 | 2 blocks | 8, vs ILL, 2/9/14 |
| R. Travis | 4-4 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 3 blocks | 4 (2x), last at ILL, 2/21/13 |
| G. Thorpe | 2-0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | -- | 3, at ILL, 1/4/14 |
| J. Dickerson | 2-0 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 blocks | 2, at ILL, 1/4/14 |
| A. Wisniewski | 2-0 | 0 | 0.5 | -- | -- |
| K. Montminy | 2-0 | 0 | 0.5 | -- | -- |
SERIES HISTORY
- Illinois holds a 27-13 advantage in the all-time series and a 13-5 advantage in Champaign.
- Penn State's last win in the series came Jan. 19, 2012 with a 54-52 victory in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions have not won in Champaign since the 2008-09 campaign.
- Ten of the last 13 meetings between the teams have been decided by five or fewer points, including the last meeting between the teams, a 60-55 win for the Illini, Feb. 9, 2014 in the Bryce Jordan Center.
LAST TIME VS. ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Feb. 9, 2014) - Penn State came up just short in a 60-55 loss to Illinois at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tim Frazier became the Nittany Lions' all-time assists leader with 602 career assists. Frazier and D.J. Newbill both produced double-digit scoring performances for the Nittany Lions, led by Newbill, who totaled 19 points to go along with three helpers.
The teams were tied at 31 coming out of the intermission and had a second half featuring eight lead changes before the Illini closed the game with an 11-3 run and took the lead for good with 5:15 to play at 53-52. [RECAP]
THREE MORE NOTABALE GAMES
Jan. 11, 2011 (PSU, 57-55): Andrew Jones grabbed Talor Battle's last second lay-up attempt in traffic and slammed it home to give Penn State a 57-55 victory over No. 16 ranked Illinois. With the win, Penn State defeated ranked teams in back-to-back games for the second time in program history and the first since 1954.
Feb. 18, 2009 (PSU, 38-33): In a game that may have set the game of basketball back decades, Penn State gutted out a 38-33 win over No. 18 Illinois at Assembly Hall. With 11 points, Talor Battle was the lone player for either team in double-digits.
Feb. 4, 2006 (PSU, 66-65): Travis Parker scored 21 points including the game-winner with 8.5 seconds to play, and Geary Claxton added 20 as Penn State defeated No. 6 Illinois 66-65 in a sold-out Assembly Hall for the biggest road upset in program history.
March 21, 1942 (PSU, 41-34): The only pre-Big Ten meeting between the teams was in the NCAA East Regional consolation game in New Orleans, La., the Lions' first postseason appearance. L.D. Dent had 21 points for Penn State.
BEFORE & AFTER
LAST TIME OUT
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) - D.J. Newbill scored 12 points, Jordan Dickerson blocked a shot with 4 seconds left and Penn State held off a late Minnesota rally to defeat the Gophers 63-58 Wednesday night.
Penn State (14-7, 2-6 Big Ten) led by 10 points at the half but the Gophers (13-9, 2-7) shot their way back into a 46-45 lead before Devin Foster gave the Lions a lead they would hold for their second straight conference victory.
Geno Thorpe and Payton Banks each scored nine for the Lions, who shot 42 percent from the field and were 16 of 21 from the free throw line.
Minnesota's Andre Hollins scored 17 points but no other teammates were in double figures and the Gophers were outrebounded by Penn State 36-28. [RECAP]
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions continue their stretch of three of four games on the road when it heads to Big Ten newcomer Maryland for the first meeting between the teams since 2010. Penn State will tipoff from the Xfinity Center at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on BTN with Scott Graham and Bob Wenzel on the call.
The Terps are ranked No. 16 in the latest AP poll and have an 18-4 overall record with a 6-3 league mark after falling to Ohio State Thursday. They are 13-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming to No. 2 Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Conference losses have come on the road, at Illinois, Indiana and Ohio State.
Maryland will be the third opponent Penn State has faced coming off a bye week, joining Illinois this week and Purdue.