If the past two games are any indication, the men's basketball team has developed a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality.

Last Saturday at West Virginia, the Lions lost badly, 100-67, and worse, had Coach Bruce Parkhill questioning their intensity and desire.

Against Rutgers on Monday night, the Lions played nearly flawless basketball, crushing the Scarlet Knights, 93-65. The Lions won not only that game, but also sole possession of third place in the Atlantic 10 conference - for now.

Apparently they've regained that intensity. Or at least Parkhill hopes so.

Penn State hosts St. Bonaventure at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Rec Hall in what the sixth-year coach called, for good reason, the team's most important game this season to date.

"Right after the Rutgers game," Parkhill said, "the coaches had the mindset that this isn't nearly enough. This is good, but it's not nearly enough. I think the players had that attitude too, so it will be interesting to see how they play (tomorrow) as far as their intensity is concerned and their effort. Because those things were certainly there on Monday."

In the teams' earlier meeting at Reilly Center, Rocky Llewellyn's tip-in at the buzzer vaulted the Bonnies to a 94-93 decision.

St. Bonaventure, 7-7 in the Atlantic 10, is one of three teams - with Rutgers and Rhode Island - challenging the Lions for third place in the conference.

And, with four games remaining on its regular season schedule, Penn State (14-9, 9-5) can hardly afford another loss to the Bonnies.

The loss at St. Bonaventure started a landslide of poor play, at least at the defensive end of the floor. Since that Jan. 24 defeat, Penn State has gone 5-2 but really hasn't played well until Monday night.

"There's no question we have to come out with (Monday's) kind of effort every night if we're going to be successful," Parkhill said. "Most of the teams we play are quicker than us. And the only way you combat that is we have to be at 95 to 100 percent intensity and execution. It's as simple as that."

Llewellyn's high-powered offense leads the Bonnies with 19.8 points per game, second-best in the A-10. He also averages seven boards per contest, further evidence of his ability.

"Llewellyn's one of the best players in the league, no question," Parkhill said. "He can not only shoot it, he's very good at getting his own shot."

Lions forward Tom Hovasse, another one of the best players in the league, nearly matches Llewellyn's average with 18 ppg and over eight rebounds per game.

"I think we know what team will show up Saturday," Hovasse said of the Lions inconsistent play as of late, "the one that showed up against Rutgers. We've been practicing really hard. (The loss) at West Virginia never should have happened."

To ensure it doesn't happen again, Penn State - the best team in the conference at cleaning the glass - will have to hit the boards with more ferocity than it did at St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies outrebounded the Lions, 33-28, in the contest.

One thing both teams did well at Reilly Center was shoot. Both teams connected on over 50 percent of their attempts, with the Bonnies hitting 59 percent.

"If we play offensively the way we did up there, that'd be fine with me," Parkhill said. "But we have to do some other things to beat this team. They're good. They run real well. They really push the ball up the floor."