No. 18 Illinois was down by as many as 15 in the first half against Penn State (19-4) Wednesday but that ended up not mattering to them.

The Fighting Illini erased that deficit going into the half as the game is now tied at 43.

Center Kofi Cockburn led the charge with the comeback as he’s the only Illinois player that’s in double figures. He finished the first half with 16 points and a block on 8-for-8 shooting. Guard Ayo Dosunmu also had a good half for Illinois as he had nine points with three rebounds and three assists.

Both players are going to have to come up huge in the second half if Illinois is to avoid being upset. The Nittany Lions have already knocked off one ranked team this season and that came in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. They upset No. 24 Virginia Tech, 75-55.

So far in the game, two players are in double figures for Penn State and they both have 13 points. Those two players are guards Myreon Jones and Izaiah Brockington.

You can see the entire second half on the Big Ten Network.