A nice moment for Frazier
INDIANAPOLIS -- Chester Frazier has taken a beating this season, which is obvious either from looking at the massive ice packs on his knees in the Illini locker room, or from reading Illinois message boards.
After hitting his second game-winning shot at Illinois in the team's 64-63 victory over Penn State on Thursday in the Big Ten tournament, Frazier enjoyed a moment in the spotlight being interviewed by ESPN's Erin Andrews.
Like recalling his other game-winner, Frazier had no trouble remembering the other time Andrews interviewed him.
"After we played Michigan State last year and I had my career high," said Frazier, smiling.
His winning shot Thursday ended a stretch of 4:50 that saw Illinois fail to score.
"It feels good to play another one," Frazier said. "We're still fighting to see if we can win three more."
Where's this been? Illinois, shooting 60.8 percent from the free-throw line this season, made 13 of 17 (76.5 percent) against Penn State.
Brian Randle, just a 56.8-percent shooter, hit all 7 of his, a career best.
The Illini were 13 of 14 at one point before missing their final 3 to help ignite Penn State's late charge.
Randle, who returned to the lineup last week after dislocating his shoulder in February, led Illinois with 17 points before fouling out with 2:51 remaining.
"He's back to fouling, so maybe he's feeling better," coach Bruce Weber joked.
Shaun Pruitt added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
"It was like it's been all season long," he said. "It was like we hit a brick wall. But I'm glad we could finally pull one out like we did today."
Tourney success: Illinois' win kept its streak alive of playing in every Big Ten quarterfinal. The Illini, who own the best all-time record in the Big Ten tournament (19-8), have reached the semifinals every year except 2006.
Ordering a Boilermaker: Next up for Illinois is Purdue, which beat Illinois twice during the regular season -- just as Penn State had.
Purdue coach Matt Painter played for Bruce Weber at Purdue and was an assistant under Weber at Southern Illinois.
"If Matt is a good friend, he'll just start his walk-ons and let us win and advance because he's going to the NCAA Tournament anyway," Weber said.