Jan. 31, 2001

Box Score

By DAN LEWERENZ
Associated Press Writer

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Maybe Titus Ivory should turn his ankle in every game.

Ivory returned from a first-half ankle sprain to score a career-high 27 points, including four in overtime, as Penn State upset No. 6 Illinois 98-95 Wednesday night.

Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said that he didn't expect that Ivory would be able to return, but Ivory said he had no doubt.

"My teammates have a lot of confidence in me," Ivory said. "Not to be taking anything away from the Illinois guys, but one-on-one I feel I can play with anybody."

Frank Williams brought Illinois (16-5, 6-2 Big Ten) within 96-95 when he hit a layup with 13.8 left, but the Illini were forced to foul and Joe Crispin hit both free throws to put Penn State (13-6, 3-5) up 98-95 with 10.3 seconds left.

Tyler Smith hit two free throws with 24.2 seconds left in overtime to put Penn State up 96-93.

Illinois led briefly early in the overtime, but a free throw by Gyasi Cline-Heard and Ivory's layup put Penn State up 94-91.

Williams sent the game into overtime with a long 3-pointer from the right wing with 2.7 seconds left.

Even after they allowed Illinois back into the game, Dunn said his team "refused to give in. Their attitude was, 'We've got to get it done in the next five minutes.' "

Penn State led 84-77 with 1:59 left, but baskets by Williams, Lucas Johnson and Sergio McClain brought Illinois within 84-83 with 26.9 seconds left in regulation.

Ivory was fouled with 10.7 seconds left and hit both free throws before Williams' 3-pointer tied the game. Crispin's last-second shot hit the backboard, but didn't go in.

After trailing most of the first half, Penn State retook the lead, 55-54, with 16:07 left in the second on back-to-back 3-pointers by Jon Crispin. The Nittany Lions finished with 12 3-pointers.

"The biggest thing is that they made shots, and we didn't pressure them out of what they wanted to do," Illinois coach Bill Self said. "They have range of 25 feet, then we have to make them catch the ball at 28 feet. They got a lot of free dribbles because we didn't do that."

Ivory had to be helped off the floor after turning his right ankle with 4:40 left in the first half. He remained on the bench when the second half started, but returned seconds later and scored 20 points after halftime.

"When an opposing player goes down, you never want him to get hurt - but we'd have been a lot better off if he had stayed hurt," Self said. "He came back and he was a great spark for them. He made play after play - I thought without question he was the best player in the game."

Penn State snapped a three-game Big Ten losing streak and avenged a 92-60 loss to the Illini earlier this year. It was the Nittany Lions' first home victory over a Top 10 team since beating No. 10 Ohio State on Feb. 27, 1999.

Cline-Heard finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jon Crispin scored 18 points and Joe Crispin had 16. The Nittany Lions hit 12 3-pointers, eight of those after halftime.

Brian Cook scored all 22 of his points in the first half for Illinois, but got into foul trouble early in the second and fouled out with 1:59 left. Williams also scored 22, Marcus Griffin had 17 and Corey Bradford 14.

Cook dominated the first half, scoring 13 points, including a 3-pointer, in an early 17-6 run that put Illinois up 20-10 with 14:15 left. Penn State crept back, closing to 33-29 with 7:06 left. But Cook scored nine more points in an 11-2 run that put the Illini up 44-31 with 4:06 left in the half.

"Brian never got into a rhythm in the second half," Self said. "We gave him the ball inside early on, and he missed a bunny. After that he got into foul trouble."

A pair of late 3-pointers, one from Joe Crispin and one from Jon, brought Penn State within 48-44 at halftime.