It took until the 633rd game in the history of Assembly Hall, but Illinois finally did what no team had ever accomplished at the storied arena.

The Illini failed to shoot a free throw in Wednesday night’s 38-33 loss to Penn State, a feat made more improbable by their role as the home team. I’d love to find out the last time a home team failed to shoot a free throw in a college game.

Illinois had never shot less than five free throws in any Assembly Hall game and had never made fewer than two. Even the Illini’s opponents in all those games had shot at least one free throw.

“That’s our fault,” coach Bruce Weber said. “We didn’t go strong to the basket and didn’t get it inside enough. (Mike) Tisdale was the only one to score down the stretch. During a couple of timeouts we said to get it inside and we didn’t do a good job of that.”

For the record, the officiating crew was the little-seen trio of Steve Skiles, Antinio Petty and Lamar Simpson. But putting the blame on the officials is misplaced considering that Illinois has made it a trend to shoot few free throws this season.

Weber did complain about one play when he thought Mike Davis was fouled “not once but twice” on a layup attempt. Penn State was whistled for six fouls before committing two purposely in the final 15 seconds. But Weber is well aware of his team’s inability to get to the line.

According to Ken Pomeroy’s web site,  Illinois ranks last nationally in its ratio of three-throw attempts to field-goal attempts. The Illini entered the game having attempted the fewest free throws in the Big Ten and it’s not even close. They average 12.8 attempts per game, down from 19.4 last season.

The problem seems to be getting worse. Illinois has shot 38 free throws in the last five games. At Indiana on Sunday the Illini attempted two in the first 38 minutes.

Why? The Illini often rely too much on perimeter shooting. Main ball handler Demetri McCamey has started drawing more fouls but still doesn’t get to the basket enough. And center Mike Tisdale gets the ball a lot but shies away from contact. A 7 foot 1 center should be getting to the line more than twice a game.

“I don’t think we’re going to get a lot of free throws,” Weber said when asked if the situation could be remedied somehow. “We’re more of a jump-shooting team.”

–McCamey apparently hadn’t recovered from a virus that slowed him at Indiana. He threw up at halftime and didn’t seem himself. After missing all five of his shots against the Hoosiers, he made two of 11 against the Nittany Lions and scored five points.

–Chester Frazier was called for an intentional foul with two seconds left during a scrum after McCamey’s final missed shot. Frazier appeared to grab Talor Battle’s leg but when asked about the foul he said, “I don’t want to comment on that.”