Fighting Illini at Penn State Preview: Talor Battle, Talor Battle, Talor Battle

Time: 8pm central
TV: Big Ten Network
Location @ Penn State

It will be a tough end to this season, whenever it comes, losing seniors Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis, Bill Cole and of course Demetri McCamey, but I will take some solace from one unavoidable fact, we will never have to play Talor Battle again. There have been some painful games play against Big Ten opponents over the last five years, and some very good players that have beaten us (Greg Oden, and Eric Gordon come to mind.) But no player has given more scares over his career in college than Talor Battle. Since he joined Penn State, the Illini have a losing record against the Nittany Lions, really, a team who hasn't made the tournament since 2001.

Overall, Battle's games against Illinois don't stand out as much as you would think, he has averaged about 13 points per game against us, and carries only a 31% fgp against the Illini. But when you think about how many times Battle has won the game for PSU over us in single possession games, or how many times he has nearly won the game when the Illini manage to eek one out, you know he is the most important player on the floor. He will play nearly 40 minutes, bear almost all of the responsibility for his team's success, and could win the game all by himself.

I for one, will never forget this.

The way that game ended, was to me, more shocking and painful than the loss Eric Gordon and IU, even more infuriating than losing at the buzzer to PSU in 2006, and perhaps just as difficult to stomach as the shellacking handed out by Greg Oden. Talor Battle is all of that and more, because he has stayed in school to torture me for four years. I have dreaded every single game against Penn State for that reason. Not because we don't field a better team than they do, because year in, year out we will have a better roster, but because Talor Battle has taught me that no lead is ever safe against him and to take him lightly at my own peril.

For all of the above reasons, I do not believe this will be a running away victory for the Illini. We don't particularly play well in Happy Valley, regardless of the six foot giant, *cough, 38-33 ahem*. And PSU is coming off of its biggest win of the season against Michigan State, so there will might actually be somebody at tonight's game to cheer against us for once.

Offensively, I would like to see a continuation of earlier trends. Fewer threes taken over all, and more driving to the hoop by our guards, namely Demetri McCamey and D.J. Richardson. By the way, I want to buy lunch for whoever convinced DMAC that he needs to drive to the hoop more often and draw fouls, because I think it has shown McCamey how good he can actually be when he does, and it is only going to make him more valuable in the eyes of NBA scouts.

On defense, Talor Battle is the number one priority. DJ has to be in his face the entire night and not let Battle be the one to beat them. If we have to double up on Battle all night, that is fine with me, because it has yet to be proven that anyone else but him can carry the offensive load. I would rather take my chances in making a star out of a PSU contributor by giving him open looks, then give Battle any room to breathe, because we know he can win it himself.

That said, if the Illini are shooting like they have been, they will win.