PHILADELPHIA – The Penn State men’s basketball team made its return to “The Cathedral of College Basketball” on Saturday night, dropping a 73-65 result to the No. 20/19 Illinois Fighting Illini inside The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

The Nittany Lions contested their sixth Big Ten Conference game all-time in The Palestra on Saturday night, adding another chapter to the rich history of a building that has hosted more games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA Tournament contests than any other facility in college basketball.

Penn State was led offensively by a pair of double-digit scorers in Philadelphia, with freshman guard Kayden Mingo notching a team-best 16-point performance with five assists four steals while redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice poured in 11 points and hauled in four rebounds.

Illinois came away with the opening tip and found the game’s first points from beyond the arc shortly thereafter. The Fighting Illini rattled off the first seven points of the contest, but Rice connected from deep on the right wing to make it a 7-3 affair three minutes in. Illinois mustered a 6-0 run from there to take a 13-3 edge at the game’s first media timeout, but Mingo rattled off back-to-back assists on a 3-pointer from Stewart and an and-one for Tunca to pull back within four.

In response to PSU’s 6-0 scoring run, the Fighting Illini added four quick points before back-and-forth basketball resumed to the tune of a 20-13 Illinois advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first.

Illinois picked things up on both ends in the ensuing moments, rattling off a quick 10-0 scoring run to balloon the advantage to 14 points. PSU attempted to mitigate the Fighting Illini scoring stretch but would trail by a 32-18 differential with just over five and a half minutes remaining in the opening frame.

A 3-pointer from Rice and a mid-range pull-up jumper by Blackwood helped the Nittany Lions pull back within 10 points, and Blackwood continued to impress with a left-corner triple that kept the momentum flowing in PSU’s direction. Illinois was afforded multiple opportunities at the charity stripe as the half wound down, ultimately culminating in a 40-26 Fighting Illini lead at the halftime break.

Juric drilled a 3-pointer to open the second stanza for the Nittany Lions just before Illinois connected on a pair of driving layups. Mingo kept the 3-point barrage going with a straight-away triple to but the Fighting Illini lead back to 12 points, but a pair of makes at the line preserved Illinois’ edge.

PSU trimmed things back to single digits with a runner from Mingo and triple from Freddie Dilione V, but the Fighting Illini immediately answered back to make it 48-37 with just over 14 minutes to play.

ILLINOIS (11-3, 2-1 BIG TEN)

David Mirkovic 4-8 5- 13, Tomislav Ivisic 0-3 0-0 0, Andrej Stojakovic 4-9 4-4 12, Kylan Boswell 5-13 6-6 18, Keaton Wagler 4-9 7-8 16, Ben Humrichous 2-4 0-0 5, Jake Davis 1-5 0-0 3, Zvonimir Ivisic 2-4 1-4 6, Brandon Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Mihailo Petrovic 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 23-28 73.

PENN STATE (9-5, 0-3 BIG TEN)

Ivan Juric 2-8 3-5 8, Josh Reed 0-2 0-0 0, Kayden Mingo 5-12 4-4 16, Freddie Dilione V 4-11 0-0 9, Eli Rice 4-10 1-2 11, Dominick Stewart 1-6 0-0 3, Sasa Ciani 3-6 0-2 6, Melih Tunca 2-8 1-1 5, Tibor MIrtic 1-3 0-0 2, Mason Blackwood 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 24-69 9-14 65.

Halftime: Illinois 40-26. 3-point goals: Illinois 6-27 (Boswell 2-5, Wagler 1-5, Humrichous 1-3, Davis 1-5, Z. Ivisic 1-3, T. Ivisic 0-1, Stojakovic 0-2, Mirkovic 0-3), PSU 8-38 (Rice 2-7, Mingo 2-8, Dilione V 1-7, Juric 1-5, Blackwood 1-2, Mitric 0-1, Reed 0-1, Tunca 0-2). Fouled out: Illinois-none; PSU-Stewart. Rebounds: Illinois 48 (Mirkovic 10, Z. Ivisic 10), PSU 37 (Rice 4, Dilione V 4, Ciani 4). Assists: Illinois 9 (Mirkovic 3, Wagler 3), PSU 11 (Mingo 5). Technical fouls: Illinois-none; PSU-none. Total fouls: Illinois 17, PSU 26. A: 4,686.