2023 Big Ten Tournament Central
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team will open the 2023 Big Ten Tournament in the second round Thursday night against Illinois. Tipoff from the United Center in Chicago is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State (19-12, 10-10 Big Ten) finished tied for ninth in the Big Ten standings and will play as the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament. Illinois (20-11, 11-9 Big Ten) is the No. 7 seed.
The winner of Thursday's Penn State-Illinois game advances to Friday's quarterfinal round to take on No. 2 seed Northwestern at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT.
The Nittany Lions swept the regular-season series against the Illini this season. Penn State took down then 17th-ranked Illinois 74-59 in Champaign on Dec. 10 before beating the Illini 93-81 in Happy Valley on Feb. 14. The Nittany Lions shot 46.2 percent (24-52) from 3-point range in the two games combined, while Jalen Pickett averaged 30.5 ppg, 7.0 apg and 4.5 rpg in the pair of regular-season contests.
The Nittany Lions finished the regular season winning five of their final six games, while the Illini dropped two of their last three contests. Penn State and Illinois have met three times before in the Big Ten Tournament, but not since 2008. The Illini have won all three previous meetings in the conference tournament.
Keep up to date with all tournament happenings at Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Central.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.
