College preview: Illinois at Penn State

Posted January 18, 2012 11:00 pm

No. 22 Illinois (15-3, 4-1) at Penn State (9-10, 1-5)

When: 8 p.m. Thursday at the Jordan Center

TV: ESPN2 and ESPN3.com

Radio: WIND 560-AM

The skinny: Coming off a big upset of No. 5 Ohio State, the Illini don’t have to be reminded of what can happen at Penn State. Purdue, the only conference team to beat Illinois this season, lost at the Jordan Center, and the Nittany Lions tipped the Illini there last season, 57-55. Bruce Weber’s teams own a 10-6 record against Penn State. It was all Brandon Paul against the Buckeyes as the junior from Warren High School scored 43 points, including the game’s final 15 points in the upset. Only one NCAA player has scored more this season. Penn State’s scoring comes from junior guard Tim Frazier, who has posted three straight games of 20 points or more, including 30 against Nebraska. Frazier does it all, leading the team in rebounding, assists and steals. The Illini will have to do a good job protecting the ball as the Lions had 11 steals and forced 17 turnovers against Minnesota.

Next: Home vs. Wisconsin, 1 p.m. Sunday, BTN

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