Butler Coach Barry Collier said Tuesday night's 79-74 win over Penn State was a "quality win" and could go a long way in helping the Bulldogs make the NCAA Tournament.

But in contrast, what does the loss mean to the Lions, who now are 12-5?

The Lion Express appeared to be set on cruise control with four wins in eight days. Then came the derailment in Indy. Butler exposed the team's weaknesses, and only time will tell how much damage the loss will do to the Lions' NCAA chances.

-- Butler's front line simply out-hustled and out-positioned their way past the Lions' front line. Penn State, which usually ranks near the top in the nation for rebound margin, was outrebounded 37-20. On the offensive end, the Lions missed shots in the paint that could have helped the team close the gap in the second half.

"(The inside play) has been a concern all year," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "We missed some pretty good opportunities."

-- Even though solid contributions came from it in the past week, the bench never appeared thinner than it did Tuesday. With Butler pressing the entire game and Eric Carr and DeRon Hayes getting in first-half foul trouble, bench play became a premium.

The Bulldog bench outscored Penn State's substitutes 31-11 (9 points came from Matt Gaudio). Butler benefitted from the inside-out combination of Jermaine Guice and J.P. Brens, who eached scored 15 points.

"We did a lot more substituting," Collier said. "We tried to keep everyone away from fatigue."

Monroe Brown and Freddie Barnes each played their third consecutive game of over 35 minutes, but Barnes said fatigue had nothing to do with the loss. Dave Degitz also played 39 minutes.

-- Then of course there's the free throw shooting -- another category the Lions thrived on in past seasons. The Lions went 8-of-18 Tuesday night and in their last two games they've gone 37-59.

"We just weren't making them," Hayes said. "We're working every day on them."

Notes:

The Lions' next game is Saturday at Heshey Park Arena against Penn. With 11 games left, seven will be at Rec Hall and two at the Hershey Arena. One of those Rec Hall games is Feb. 12 when Butler comes to town . . . Tuesday's game broke a streak of four consecutive games that Brown led the team in scoring. Brown scored 17, but Barnes' hot shooting and 21 points nearly pulled out a victory.