Another Illini Loss to Penn State? Ho-Hum.

Illinois is supposed to be a basketball school. Penn State hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2001. And yet the Marshmallows Illini are 5-6 in their last 11 meetings with Penn State after tonight's 57-55 loss. I'm surprised their fans rushed the court at the end of the game - don't they expect to beat us by now?

As for the Illini, they've now lost to a team that's 0-5 in the Horizon League (UIC; the Flames haven't won since beating the Illini) AND to a team (Penn State) that lost at home to Maine. We can't blame this one on poor shooting either, since the Illini actually outshot Penn State (41.3% to 34.6% overall; the Illini were 7-16 on 3-pointers versus 7-24 for the Nittany Lions) and even made 10 of 11 free throws.

Bottom line - even after this loss, the Illini will probably still make the NCAA tournament, and will probably also make some mid-major school very happy when they see they're playing the Illini in the first round.