Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1516624
M A R C H 2 0 2 4 M A R C H 2 0 2 4 9 OPENING SHOT WRECKING CREW The Penn State men's basketball team had dropped three games in a row, and that wasn't all it had lost in the days leading up to its clash with 12th-ranked Illinois. The Nittany Lions had also bid farewell to their leading scorer, sophomore guard Kanye Clary, who was dismissed for unspecified reasons, with coach Mike Rhoades noting simply, "It came to a point where, as a coach, I decided to move on." That seemed to portend a tough night for the hosts when the Illini visited on Feb. 21 for PSU's "Return to Rec" game. Rec Hall, the pro- gram's 6,500-seat former home, has served as a fun setting for the occasional game ever since Penn State moved across campus to the more spacious Bryce Jordan Center in the mid- 1990s, but could it help conjure up a win at a point in the season when nothing seemed to be going the Nittany Lions' way? It could indeed. Penn State stunned the Illini, 90-89, over- coming a seven-point deficit in the final 36 seconds and getting the decisive points at the free throw line when junior forward Zach Hicks made all three shots after being fouled with three seconds left. The Lions still had to hold on tight at the end, but when Justin Harmon's runner bounced off the rim at the buzzer, the crowd erupted, then spilled out onto the court in jubilation. Nick Kern Jr. (left) was a big part of Penn State's offensive surge, hitting 10 of 17 at- tempts from the floor, including an emphatic dunk, to finish with a career-best 22 points. The junior guard scored all but 4 of those points in the second half, when Penn State erased an Illinois lead that was in double dig- its most of the way. The Lions hadn't led at any point in the second half until Hicks' final free throw. "I've been doing this for a while, and I'm just a super proud coach tonight," Rhoades said following Penn State's second victory of the season over a top-15 opponent. "I'm just really proud of our guys." Illinois coach Brad Underwood was likewise impressed, both with the Nittany Lions' resil- ience, and with the boost they got from their claustrophobic little gymnasium. "It's a tremendous atmosphere, a great en- vironment," he said. "I wish we were back in the other place." — Matt Herb PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL