Rec Hall crowd gives Penn State men’s basketball energy boost toward upset win over Illinois

When Zach Hicks made his way to the free throw line, Rec Hall was silent for the first time all night.

Penn State was trailing 89-87. He had to make two shots to tie the game, three to take the lead.

“I just kinda wanted to block out the noise,” Hicks said.

He knocked all three down. After each shot went through Nylon, a crowd of 6,150 at Rec Hall went from completely quiet to ear-piercingly loud.

The Bryce Jordan Center may hold double the amount of fans, but Rec Hall provided something truly special for Penn State’s basketball program on Wednesday night: A passionate, booming environment that influenced the energy its team brought to the floor in a 90-89 upset of No. 12 Illinois.

Head coach Mike Rhoades opened his postgame press conference by describing his appreciation for everybody that organized the first “Return to Rec Hall” game. It was the first Penn State basketball game at Rec Hall since 2015, and just the fourth since 1996.

“(That was) a fun night for Penn State University and our basketball team,” Rhoades said. “Everybody that had something to do with tonight, to make this real, I just want to say thank you.”

The downsize from the BJC provided a closer relationship between Penn State fans and the team, leading to a court storm from the student section after the final buzzer sounded.

The nearly-100-year old building functioned as a mini, indoor Beaver Stadium for the night. The crowd wore all white, other than some splashes of Illinois orange sprinkled in, fans each had white shakers and Penn State football head coach James Franklin made an appearance courtside.

“It was just nice to be in that atmosphere ... I’m nostalgic, because I like the really old buildings,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.

From the beginning of the night, basketball on Rec Hall’s floor looked natural. Not only did the hardwood aesthetically fill the floor space from each section of bleachers, but there was something about a Nittany Lions logo at halfcourt and “Penn State” written under a pair of baskets that complemented the small arena nicely.

A 12-5 Nittany Lions run to open the game had the Penn State faithful hyped, erupting for early 3-pointers from D’Marco Dunn and Ace Baldwin Jr. On each offensive possession, the Fighting Illini earned a constant combination of yelling and boos.

Penn State built a decent lead in the first chunk of the game behind that energy. With 7:37 left in the first half, forward Puff Johnson earned one of the loudest reactions of the evening.

As he danced into the lane on a fast break, Johnson downed a layup, drew the foul and jogged toward a rowdy student section, with a few fans standing in the front row even greeting him there.

But the fans died down as the Nittany Lions’ performance did in the second half; the further the team’s lead slipped, the less-involved its supporters in blue and white were.

That was until Nick Kern Jr. brought Rec Hall back to life.

Kern Jr., who finished with a season-high 22 points, re-sparked the crowd enough to rattle Illinois as Penn State shrunk its deficit to seven with just under 10 minutes remaining.

“The fans really turned me up and really get me going,” Kern Jr. said.

Although the Nittany Lions’ true comeback didn’t come until there were under two minutes left, the junior guard said postgame that his squad always thought it had a chance at a win in the final minutes.

“Oh, yeah,” Kern Jr. said. “One thing coach always tells us is to keep fighting until the end ... that’s what we did.”

As the matchup winded down, the fans got more animated, upset at a shooting foul called in Illinois’ favor while booing and groaning in disbelief.

But in the final moments, especially for Jameel Brown’s late 3-pointer and Johnson’s layup to pull Penn State within two, Rec Hall was deafening with cheers.

“I think the crowd definitely helped us a lot tonight … the energy, all the Penn State fans, alumni,” Brown said.

Although there were still some empty seats, a fired-up fanbase — something the Nittany Lions haven’t had often in a now 13-14 season — in a more intimate atmosphere brought an energy to the team that it simply hasn’t found in the BJC.

“Man, this was old school. This was like, ‘Check it up and let’s go play in a hot gym.’ Which is what it’s all about,” Rhoades said.

There’s undoubtedly an argument to be made — likely an unrealistic one, nonetheless — to permanently swap the home of Penn State wrestling and basketball, the same way they’ve each done for one night in February recently.

Wrestling in the BJC provides a newer home with more seats and amenities to a top-ranked program that often sells out Rec Hall.

Basketball in Rec Hall gives a game-by-game boost in energy to a program that often needs it, evidenced by the shocking comeback win on Wednesday.

Either way, Penn State’s crowd at Rec Hall against Illinois was one of the most unique environments at a non-football game the university has had in some time.

Underwood paid his respect to the distinctive Rec Hall atmosphere.

“Tremendous atmosphere, great environment … (Rec Hall) created a nice buzz,” Underwood said. “Congratulations to their administration on trying something new. That was a great environment for college basketball.”

On Thursday, Penn State women’s basketball will host No. 2 Ohio State at 6 p.m. in its first game at Rec Hall since 1996, continuing the return of basketball to the iconic Penn State sports arena.