LIVE: FINAL - Illinois 62, No. 9 Penn State 56

Welcome to the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated live blog as Illinois (16-9, 8-6 in Big Ten Conference) will try to end a four-game losing streak and a decade-long losing streak to Top 10 Big Ten opponents.

Illinois travels to No. 9 Penn State (20-5, 10-4) as the Nittany Lions try to chase down Maryland for the school's first-ever regular-season league title.

I'm LOOKING LIVE...at the home office here in Peoria, Illinois for the first time for a live blog, as we're less than an hour from the opening tip.

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NOTE: Please join us as we live-blog and discuss the Illini exhibition game here in our weekly Illini Gameday Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it's easy — by simply going to the top right of the redesigned site and click the follow button.

You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it's free. That's right...IT'S FREE. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your reactions and observations with our staff and fellow members of the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated community as we keep you up to date of the game in real-time.

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Game 26: Illinois at No. 9 Penn State

Date/Time/Place: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020: 5:30 p.m. CST, Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pa.

Capacity: 15,544

Records: Illinois 16-9, 8-6 in Big Ten; 12-21, 7-13 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19. Penn State 20-5, 10-4 in Big Ten; 14-18 7-13 in Big Ten Conference in 2018-19.

Line: Penn State by 6.5

Series notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 28-19 but the Illini Illinois are looking to end a six-game skid against Penn State. Illinois’ last victory over the Nittany Lions was Jan. 31, 2015 in Champaign. The Illini’s last win at the Jordan Center, meanwhile, came on Feb. 9, 2014. Illinois has dropped 18 straight against Top 25 opponents in true road games. Illinois beat No. 13 Maryland last season at Madison Square Garden, but the Illini’s last victory on a ranked team’s home court was a 66-63 win at No. 24 Iowa on March 8, 2014, on a Jon Ekey three with 0.5 left. Illinois’ last road win over a Top-10 team was an 85-73 victory at No. 10 Gonzaga on Dec. 8, 2012. The Illini’s last conference road win against a Top-10 team, meanwhile, was a 71-67 overtime victory at No. 9 Purdue on Dec. 30, 2008.

TV: FS1 - Joe Davis (PBP), Donny Marshall (Analyst) - Both coaches will wear a live microphone, giving viewers the chance to hear directly from the sidelines and locker rooms from tipoff through the final whistle with virtually no interruption.

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Doug Altenberger (analyst) - The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, Sirius/XM 195 and at FightingIllini.com.

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While we wait for pre-game updates, here's a look at the three keys and Matthew Stevens' prediction for tonight's game.

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Two Key Numbers For Tonight's Game:

40 - Penn State is 52-5 record in the last four years when it holds its opponent to a field goal percentage of less than 40%.

20 - Illinois is 7-2 this season when the Illini have a 20-point or higher scorer in the game.

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BREAKING NEWS: Illinois officials have confirmed leading scorer Ayo Dosunmu (left leg) is active for this game and back in the starting lineup after missing the Rutgers game.

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 15:51 left in 1st - No. 9 Penn State 6, Illinois 6 - Kofi Cockburn picks up his second foul and will likely sit for a long time. Underwood immediately says to him "you got to be smarter than that, you already had one."

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 11:20 left in 1st - Illinois 15, No. 9 Penn State 14 - Give Kipper Nichols a lot of credit on that segment against Stevens. Illini are 7 of 15 with three offensive rebounds. Penn State is 1 of 6 from three-point range.

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 6:26 left in 1st - Illinois 22, No. 9 Penn State 20 - just an awful first half for Giorgi Bezhanishvili (0 for 4 with one turnover and a one rebound). Illini only shooting four three-pointers so far. Griffin with an early nine points.

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 1:48 left in 1st - Illinois 26, No. 9 Penn State 26 - Dosunmu with six points in his return to the lineup. PSU is 11 of 21 on two-point field goals. Illini still not hitting perimeter shots.

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ILLINI TIMEOUT - 28.6 left in 1st - Illinois 30, No. 9 Penn State 26 - Giorgi's scoreless drought ends with an offensive putback. Illini want to foul early on this possession.

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HALFTIME - Illinois 30, No. 9 Penn State 26 - Watkins gets a technical but Frazier misses both free throws (Illini are 4 of 10 from the foul line). Dosunmu has eight points and Illini was able to survive most of the half with Cockburn on the bench. Penn State should feel good only being down four with Stevens on the bench for a long stretch.

Analysis: Illinois is forcing fewer threes with everybody but Griffin and trying to get to the basket with Frazier, Feliz and Dosunmu. Giorgi obviously struggling on the offensive end but he's doing an above-average job on defense and clearing the glass. A really good defensive half from Kipper Nichols and that's key to Illinois being able to steal a road win here. Penn State isn't shooting well at all (1 of 9 from three-point range) and that's obviously been a major point of emphasis with guarding them. Stevens just has four shots in this half and that's because of foul trouble but if he needs more shots in this final 20 minutes.

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 15:40 left - Illinois 36, No. 9 Penn State 31 - Kofi Cockburn asserting himself early in this second half (10 points and four rebounds so far) and Illini's defense continues to force Penn State to take early or difficult shots.

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 11:38 left - Illinois 40, No. 9 Penn State 39 - Illini have gone three and a half minutes without scoring and the home arena is loud for the first time this evening. Stevens still has only five points and Nittany Lions are only down one. Dosunmu with 10 points on just eight shots.

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 7:08 left - Illinois 50, No. 9 Penn State 43 - It's Ayo to the rescue tonight. The Illini leading scorer has come back from injury to score 20 points already tonight. Lamar Stevens is 2 of 8 and Da'Monte Williams is doing an excellent job of face-guarding him.

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PSU TIMEOUT - 6:07 left - Illinois 54, No. 9 Penn State 45 - It's been all Ayo and Kofi in this second half and that's exactly the only way Illinois was going to pull off this upset of a Top 10 team on the road. Penn State is 3 of 15 tonight from three-point range.

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MEDIA TIMEOUT - 3:44 left - Illinois 56, No. 9 Penn State 52 - Ayo and Kofi basically have all of the Illini's points in this second half but the real key in the last two minutes have been Illinois having three trustworthy ball-handlers on the floor.

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ILLINI TIMEOUT - 1:32 left - Illinois 58, No. 9 Penn State 54 - Underwood wants to draw something up but you'd have to believe Ayo gets this basketball.

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