Funk, Dread hot from 3 as Penn State beats No. 17 Illinois
AP
Dec 10, 2022
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) Andrew Funk and Myles Dread combined for 11 3-pointers to give Penn State Nittany Lions a 74-59 win over No. 17 Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday.
Funk and Jalen Pickett led all scorers with 20 points each, Seth Lundy added 16 and Dread had 15 to give the Nittany Lions (7-3, 1-1 Big Ten) notched their first road Big Ten win against a top-20 team since beating No. 16 Michigan State in 2020.
''There's not many people that are going to come in here and win,'' Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said. ''You prepare for a game like this, you see their talent, you see how hard they play. This crowd, how involved they are, the atmosphere, this is a tough place to play.''
Matthew Mayer led Illinois (7-3, 0-2) with 14 points, all in the first half.
''Put it in bold, damn print: leadership, lack of (it),'' Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. ''And no effort. That's what happens in this league when you have none of that.''
Penn State shot 50% from long distance overall, and hit 6 of 9 3s in the first half. Funk made another 3 to extend the lead to double digits on the opening possession out of the break.
But Illinois strung together a 8-0 run and held Penn State scoreless for about five minutes to pull closer at 52-47. Then Funk hit back-to-back 3s - including one off an inbound pass - and Dread knocked down another in a span of 64 seconds to push the lead to 14 points at 61-47.
By then, the nearly sold-out crowd had devolved from intense enthusiasm to flustered discontent, and then stunned silence.
''This is a win that we're going to look back on this and (use) this blueprint as something we can look back on to see how we did it,'' said Funk, who added one more 3 to make it a 74-56 game with 3:51 left.
Mayer hit his first three shots for Illinois, and Penn State knocked down its first three 3s of the game in a first half that had eight lead changes and six ties.
PERIMETER PRECISION
Saturday was the second time Funk and Dread have each made at least five 3s in a game this season. The first time was in a two-point loss to Virginia Tech in November.
The difference: Penn State limited itself to nine turnovers Saturday, instead of 14 against the Hokies, and limited the Illini to 12 points off turnovers.
Funk has helped the Nittany Lions average more than 11.5 made 3s per game since transferring from Bucknell.
LACKING LEADERSHIP
Underwood didn't hold back about his disappointment in the game, which came after a nationally televised OT win over No. 2 Texas on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
He said that after the game, he read the team a text from former Illini Trent Frazier, who is playing basketball professionally in Serbia. Underwood implied the text was too expletive-laden to share publicly.
''(Frazier) is leading from Serbia,'' Underwood said. ''Every day guys, every day. It's not about having the media and everyone else kiss their butt when you play in Madison Square Garden and beat a good team.''
BIG PICTURE
Penn State: An overtime loss at Clemson and a defeat to Michigan State were hardly reasons to discount the Nittany Lions from doing some damage in the Big Ten this year. Micah Shrewsberry's experienced group was composed and found plenty of open shots against the normally formidable Illinois defense.
Illinois: Brad Underwood's teams usually don't fall into classic trap-game scenarios, but the Illini did just that.
UP NEXT
Penn State: Hosts Canisius on Dec. 18.
Illinois: Hosts Alabama A&M next Saturday.
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1st Half
PSU
Nittany Lions
47
ILL
Fighting Illini
38
Time
Team
Play
Score
20:00
(Fighting Illini gains possession)
19:44
Coleman Hawkins misses three point jump shot
19:42
Myles Dread defensive rebound
19:09
+3
Andrew Funk makes three point jump shot (Camren Wynter assists)
3-0
18:47
+3
Skyy Clark makes three point jump shot
3-3
18:25
Skyy Clark blocks Camren Wynter's two point layup
18:23
Fighting Illini defensive rebound
18:13
+2
Matthew Mayer makes two point layup
3-5
18:03
+3
Myles Dread makes three point jump shot (Jalen Pickett assists)
6-5
17:46
+3
Matthew Mayer makes three point jump shot (Coleman Hawkins assists)
6-8
17:20
+3
Andrew Funk makes three point jump shot (Jalen Pickett assists)
9-8
16:58
+3
Matthew Mayer makes three point jump shot (Coleman Hawkins assists)
9-11
16:42
+2
Seth Lundy makes two point dunk (Andrew Funk assists)
11-11
16:18
+2
Coleman Hawkins makes two point turnaround jump shot
11-13
16:04
Coleman Hawkins personal foul
16:04
TV timeout
15:47
Andrew Funk misses three point jump shot
15:45
Skyy Clark defensive rebound
15:28
Coleman Hawkins turnover (traveling)
15:01
Jayden Epps blocks Jalen Pickett's two point jump shot
14:59
Terrence Shannon Jr. defensive rebound
14:54
Jayden Epps misses three point jump shot
14:52
Jalen Pickett defensive rebound
14:31
Seth Lundy misses three point jump shot
14:29
Matthew Mayer defensive rebound
14:03
Jayden Epps turnover (Kebba Njie steals)
13:56
+3
Evan Mahaffey makes three point jump shot (Jalen Pickett assists)
14-13
13:33
Skyy Clark misses three point jump shot
13:31
Kanye Clary defensive rebound
13:24
Kanye Clary misses two point layup
13:22
Dain Dainja defensive rebound
13:11
+2
Terrence Shannon Jr. makes two point jump shot
14-15
12:52
Kebba Njie misses two point layup
12:50
Jayden Epps defensive rebound
12:43
Kebba Njie shooting foul (Dain Dainja draws the foul)
12:43
Dain Dainja misses regular free throw 1 of 2
12:43
Dain Dainja misses regular free throw 2 of 2
12:43
Ty Rodgers offensive rebound
12:35
+2
Ty Rodgers makes two point jump shot
14-17
12:25
Sencire Harris personal foul
12:18
Demetrius Lilley offensive foul
12:18
Demetrius Lilley turnover
11:58
Dain Dainja misses two point jump shot
11:56
Sencire Harris offensive rebound
11:50
+2
Dain Dainja makes two point reverse layup (RJ Melendez assists)
14-19
11:28
+2
Jalen Pickett makes two point jump shot
16-19
11:15
Demetrius Lilley shooting foul (Dain Dainja draws the foul)
11:15
TV timeout
11:15
Dain Dainja misses regular free throw 1 of 2
11:15
+1
Dain Dainja makes regular free throw 2 of 2
16-20
10:46
+2
Jalen Pickett makes two point jump shot
18-20
10:19
Ty Rodgers misses two point jump shot
10:19
Myles Dread defensive rebound
10:19
Ty Rodgers personal foul
10:00
Camren Wynter misses two point jump shot
9:58
Jayden Epps defensive rebound
9:50
Camren Wynter shooting foul (Matthew Mayer draws the foul)
9:50
+1
Matthew Mayer makes regular free throw 1 of 2
18-21
9:50
+1
Matthew Mayer makes regular free throw 2 of 2
18-22
9:39
+2
Jalen Pickett makes two point layup
20-22
9:39
Coleman Hawkins shooting foul (Jalen Pickett draws the foul)
9:37
+1
Jalen Pickett makes regular free throw 1 of 1
21-22
9:17
+2
RJ Melendez makes two point jump shot (Skyy Clark assists)
21-24
8:50
+2
Seth Lundy makes two point layup
23-24
8:26
Matthew Mayer misses three point jump shot
8:23
Nittany Lions defensive rebound
8:04
Kanye Clary misses two point layup
8:02
Skyy Clark defensive rebound
7:53
Matthew Mayer turnover (bad pass) (Andrew Funk steals)
7:48
+3
Myles Dread makes three point jump shot (Jalen Pickett assists)
26-24
7:40
TV timeout
7:24
+2
Matthew Mayer makes two point dunk (Dain Dainja assists)
26-26
7:06
+2
Seth Lundy makes two point layup (Jalen Pickett assists)
28-26
6:51
Matthew Mayer misses three point jump shot
6:49
Jalen Pickett defensive rebound
6:38
Myles Dread misses three point jump shot
6:36
Jayden Epps defensive rebound
6:27
Terrence Shannon Jr. turnover (bad pass) (Myles Dread steals)
6:13
Jalen Pickett misses two point layup
6:11
Skyy Clark defensive rebound
6:12
Seth Lundy personal foul
5:57
Myles Dread personal foul
5:51
Jalen Pickett shooting foul (Matthew Mayer draws the foul)
5:51
+1
Matthew Mayer makes regular free throw 1 of 2
28-27
5:51
+1
Matthew Mayer makes regular free throw 2 of 2
28-28
5:33
+2
Seth Lundy makes two point dunk (Jalen Pickett assists)
30-28
5:16
+2
Skyy Clark makes two point dunk (Coleman Hawkins assists)
30-30
4:58
+2
Jalen Pickett makes two point fadeaway bank jump shot
32-30
4:46
Matthew Mayer misses three point jump shot
4:44
Seth Lundy defensive rebound
4:38
+2
Seth Lundy makes two point layup
34-30
4:14
Jayden Epps turnover (traveling)
4:06
Terrence Shannon Jr. blocks Evan Mahaffey's two point layup