Funk, Dread hot from 3 as Penn State beats No. 17 Illinois

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CHAMPAIGN, IL - DECEMBER 10: Camren Wynter #11 of the Penn State Nittany Lions chases down the ball against RJ Melendez #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini at State Farm Center on December 10, 2022 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Get

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Andrew Funk and Myles Dread combined for 11 3-pointers to give Penn State a 74-59 win over No. 17 Illinois 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 (7-1, 1-1 Big Ten) notched their first road Big Ten win against a top-20 team since beating No. 16 Michigan State in 2020.

Matthew Mayer led Illinois (7-3, 0-2) with 14 points, all in the first half.

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.

Funk 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.

TAKEAWAYS

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 Saturday after a cathartic overtime win over No. 2 Texas at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.