Morning Box Score: Illini Squeak Past Penn State

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 13, 2010 4:00PM

The Illini overcame a second half eight-point deficit to rally past Penn State 54-53 to remain undefeated (4-0) in Big 10 play this season. Penn State led by five points at the half and used a mid-second half run to open the lead up to eight. But the Illini fought back, chipping away at the lead and outscoring Penn State 9-3 over the last six minutes of the game, aided by Penn State's cold shooting (they didn't score in the game's last three minutes). Demetri McCamey led all scorers with 25 points for Illinois and Mike Tisdale pulled down a double-double (16 points, 13 rebounds).