National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Illinois 64, Penn St. 59
When: 8:15 PM ET, Thursday, February 21, 2013
Where: Assembly Hall, Champaign, Illinois
Officials: # Brian Dorsey, # Ed Hightower, # Terry Oglesby
Attendance: 14356
By SportsDirect Inc.
Illinois 64, Penn State 59: D.J. Richardson scored 18 points, including a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining to seal it, and the host Illini got back to the .500 mark in Big Ten play with their fifth consecutive win.

Brandon Paul finished with 16 points, including 13 in the second half, as Illinois (20-8, 7-7 Big Ten) won despite being outrebounded by the Nittany Lions, 29-18.

Guard Jermaine Marshall scored 20 points, forward Sasa Borovnjak matched his career high with 17 points and D.J. Newbill added 12 points for Penn State (8-18, 0-14), which dropped its 14th straight game overall and 18th straight road game.

Penn State, looking for its first victory since an 84-74 win over Duquesne on Dec. 29, jumped out to a 9-2 lead with Borovnjak scoring six points. But Illinois responded with a 17-6 run to take a 19-15 lead en route to a 29-20 halftime advantage.

The Nittany Lions closed within 34-33 on a 3-pointer by guard Nick Colella with 13:36 remaining, but Illinois went on an 11-4 run over the next six minutes to take control. Penn State got as close as 62-59 on Marshall's 3-pointer with four seconds left, setting the stage for Richardson's two game-clinching free throws two seconds later.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Richardson was 2-of-7 from 3-point range and has made at least one 3 in 34 consecutive games. ... Paul became the 10th player in Illini history to score 1,500 points when he sank a 3-pointer late in the first half. He now has 1,515 points in his career. ... Illinois hit the 20-win mark for the fourth time in five seasons.
Top Game Performances
 
Penn St.   Illinois
Jermaine Marshall 20 Scoring D.J. Richardson 18
D.J. Newbill 5 Assists Tracy Abrams 3
Sasa Borovnjak 6 Rebounds Sam McLaurin 5
Jermaine Marshall 4 Free Throws Made D.J. Richardson 8
Jermaine Marshall 1 Steals Joseph Bertrand 2
Sasa Borovnjak 1 Blocks Sam McLaurin 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Penn St. 59 43.8 8-19 9-16 11 29 2 4 16
Illinois 64 39.5 7-24 23-36 8 18 1 5 11