Two wins.

Two wins are all the men's basketball team needs to achieve a season goal: winning 20 games before the Atlantic 10 Tournament. And it has three more games to do it.

One catch: West Virginia. The Lions (18-6, 11-4) must get past the Mountaineers not once, but twice to solidify their grip on second place in the A-10 standings and make a stretch for 20.

Round one begins at 9:30 tonight in Rec Hall in front of ESPN cameras. The Lions have the advantage of playing at home, where they are 11-0 at home this season.

"Home court has to be a factor for us," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "But that is something that, from my perspective, is a concern that our guys don't just say, 'Oh, we're at home again. We'll be OK.' We have to be ready to play, because there's no doubt in my mind that West Virginia's going to come in here with a bee in its bonnet."

Although West Virginia has been inconsistent, all five of its starters boast double-digit scoring averages. Guard Tracy Shelton is the most productive, usually hitting about 19 points per game. He's also the team's best free throw shooter at 80 percent.

And although WVU lost three of its biggest guns from last season, its press seems to be more effective. The Mountaineers are also strong rebounders, averaging 37.6 per game. The Lions average 37.0, so tonight's board battle should be up for grabs.

"I think we could take them inside a lot, and maybe get their big guys in foul trouble," guard Monroe Brown said.

The Mountaineers' last outing was a 81-70 loss to St. Bonaventure in Olean, N.Y. That upset dropped them to 14-10 overall and 9-6 in the A-10 (fourth place).

"It's been said that the game had the earmarks of an upset almost from the beginning because of the emotions that St. Bonaventure had with the weekend being what it was (homecoming) and the crowd," Parkhill said. "You could tell that their players were really fired up."

Now WVU has only three more games to move up in the standings and get a higher seeding in the conference tournament.

"They have the personnel and they certainly have the coaching," Parkhill said. "I know they're more inconsistent than (Coach) Gale (Catlett) would like them to be, but that's scary because I know that on any given night they can play great basketball. I think they're one of the teams that could win the Atlantic 10 Tournament."

But coming off the rowdiness of the St. Bonaventure homecoming, the Mountaineers are going to face the rowdiness of Rec Hall. Parkhill and opposing coaches all admit that the fans make it hard for other teams to win here.

Fan support for Penn State basketball is at an all-time high. General attendance for the home games is up 36 percent from last season. For the first time ever, students camped out at Rec Hall for tickets earlier this week.

"I was hoping to see the day when that would happen," guard Darrell Ricks said. "I guess, cut and dried, it comes with wins, you know, a mark of success. Hopefully, it will carry over . . . forever."

Fan support has been steadily increasing since last year's 20-12 record and NIT Tournament berth. This season, the aim of both players and fans is slightly different: the NCAA Tournament. The Lions believe that 20 wins before the A-10 Tournament will help secure and at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Only West Virginia and Duquesne stand in the way.

"Every year has been progressively more exciting," Ricks said. "My first two years were exciting. Last year we wanted to get to the NIT. It was a goal the whole year. Get to post-season play . . . Now, (the goal) is the NCAA's. So it's exciting. I think the attitude has changed a little bit. There's more confidence now."