Centre Daily Times | 02/16/2005 | PSU facing nation’s top basketball team tonight:
“It is absurd to think that one win could erase a three-year stretch of disappointment. It is wishful at best to think that a team that has struggled against the Big Ten’s worst could defeat the nation’s top-ranked team, one that so briskly disposed of it only a month ago.
“But oh, what a dream to have.
“To No. 1 Illinois, tonight’s 8 p.m. visit to the Bryce Jordan Center is little more than another Big Ten road test, another chance to build on what is so far the best season in school history. For Penn State, it is an opportunity to make a dismal season a memory.
“‘It would totally change everything around here,’ said Penn State freshman guard Mike Walker. ‘We try to stay upbeat, we try to stay positive, but sometimes it gets tough. If we beat a team like this, it can change your whole season around.’
“Weary and downtrodden after two hard losses last week, the Nittany Lions (7-16, 1-9 Big Ten) will try to pick up their spirits and their game and hand the Fighting Illini (25-0, 11-0) their first conference road loss since Jan. 24, 2004 at Wisconsin. …”