Penn State Stuns No. 12 Illinois at Rec Hall

The Lions trailed Illinois by 8 points with 35 seconds remaining. Then, Rec Hall's magic emerged.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | For the first time since 2015, Penn State played a men’s basketball game in Rec Hall. And tucked behind the banners and photos dotting the historic venue, some magic still lingers in the building.

After falling behind by as many as 14 points to No. 12 Illinois on Wednesday, the Nittany Lions rallied for an unlikely 90-89 victory that touched off a wild scene at Rec Hall. Zach Hicks stood at the center of it, calmly making three free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining launch the celebration.

When Illinois’ Justin Harmon couldn’t convert at the rim as the final seconds ticked away, Rec Hall’s “Wear White” crowd of 6,150 fans was on the floor seemingly before the final buzzer sounded. They sang the alma mater with the team and danced long after each player had left the floor. Before that, Hicks remained calm.

“I just blocked out the noise. Just wanted to win us the game,” Hicks said. “Nothing was really going through my mind.”

Penn State won its fourth straight game over Illinois by improbably outscoring it 8-0 over the final 35 seconds. The night marked the Lions’ second top-15 win of the year and their second court storm. Does Penn State coach Mike Rhoades believe in moments that can propel a program forward?

“Damn right I do,” said Rhoades, who has been vocal about the opportunity to coach Penn State as a Pennsylvania native. He began to tear up when talking about the strain this job has put on his family, which attended Wednesday's game.

“I'm a huge, huge believer in young people,” Rhoades said. "When they come together, they stick together, they go through stuff together, it's amazing what they can accomplish and what they can believe and how they believe in each other. Maybe tonight was that moment.”

Down goes No. 12 Illinois in Rec Hall.

I, for one, am speechless.

Second top-15 win, second Penn State court storm of the season. pic.twitter.com/S2Xq17FyBd

— Max Ralph (@maxralph_) February 22, 2024

Hicks began the comeback with five points on two possessions at the 2:20 mark of the second half, part of an 11-2 Penn State run in which Illinois scored only on a pair of free throws. Jameel Brown hit a 3-pointer of his own, and then Puff Johnson secured a steal and wide-open layup off an Illini inbound pass. Illinois’ Coleman Hawkins also crucially missed two free throws during a late trip to the line that sparked the Lions.

Penn State entered Wednesday night on a three-game losing streak and following a major decision. Rhoades announced Monday that he had dismissed leading scorer Kanye Clary from the team. Yet during a tumultuous season, Rhoades continually mentioned how proud he was as a coach.

“I've been doing this for a while, I'm just a super proud coach tonight. I'm just really, really proud of our guys,” Rhoades said. “I didn't think at all during the game we were complaining. We didn't put our chins down, we didn't put our eyes down. I thought we were great teammates today.”

In Clary’s place, Nick Kern Jr. scored a career-high 22 points on 10-for-17 shooting. Baldwin recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 assists. Hicks scored 13 points, going 2-for-4 from 3-point range, and added eight rebounds. Qudus Wahab scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half as Penn State jumped out to an early lead. Brown hit a trio of triples off the bench for 11 points. The Lions shot 54 percent from the field and 44 percent from deep as a team.

“We were in a little team slump, obviously, losing three games in a row,” Hicks said. “But every day we came into practice, we were always working. We never felt sorry for ourselves.”

Penn State struggled to defend at times, allowing a career-high 35 points to Terrence Shannon Jr. and 15 to Marcus Domask. The Illini scored 44 points in the paint and shot 48 percent after a brutal start to the game. But Penn State fell back on its bread and butter, press defense, to force 13 second-half turnovers.

“Tremendous atmosphere. Great environment. Wish we were back in the other place [the Bryce Jordan Center],” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “It's just 40 minutes of what they did. They run and jump. We were sloppy with the ball,” Underwood added later.

Barring a Big Ten Tournament victory, Penn State is all but out of time to put together an NCAA Tournament resume. But moments like this win and the upset of Wisconsin, paired with signature performances from players like Baldwin and Kern (who have remaining eligibility), showed flashes of the future.

Rhoades has long been in search of a full 40-minute game and mental toughness from his first Penn State team. Fittingly, it came on a night when Penn State went back to its roots.

“Toughness is executing the play when you're dead tired. Toughness is getting in the press late in the game and knowing, 'Man, I'm fatigued and we're down five, but we got to get a trap and a steal.' You got to find more. That to me is toughness,” Rhoades said. “If I could teach the guys that when they're done here, I did my job. Because in the real world, you got to have a level of toughness in all parts of your life, and I've always believed that. That was what my dad taught me and my mom taught me, that you gotta be tough.”

Penn State's Zach Hicks makes the eventual game-winning free throw in the Nittany Lions' 90-89 upset over No. 12 Illinois at Rec Hall :: Matthew O'Haren/USA Today Sports

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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59