The glasses, perhaps, are a sign of maturity. They rest demurely on Bruce Parkhill's otherwise pristine face, giving him the look of a professor that all the women lust after.

Of course, with maturity comes respect. And the coach's maneuvers in the Lions' 71-68 win over Purdue last night earned nothing but that.

"We were not ready to play against a great coach," said Purdue Coach Gene Keady, a legend in his own right. "Bruce has done a great job here."

He is still the least recognized face in the Big Ten. He will never be mistaken for Bob Knight --his record at Penn State barely exceeds the .500 mark. But wins like this are beginning to earn him attention.

"That was a lot of fun," Parkhill said afterward, a hint of a smile sliding through an otherwise straight face.

He has seen the tough times. He is still fighting to leave them behind. He fights to motivate his players in a league that is the toughest in the nation. Penn State is still undermanned -- it must do more than the average team in order to win a game.

On this night, his team did everything. Point guard Donovan Williams ripped the nets for eight points on a night when he wasn't even supposed to play due to a dislocated finger. Forward Matt Gaudio seemed to forget he has the spine of a 40-year-old man, going toe-to-toe with Purdue all-everything forward Glenn Robinson. Even walk-on Steve Wydman filled in in crucial spots.

"To beat a team like this, you have to have some pretty neat things happen," Parkhill said.

But sometimes, these things are not just coincidence. Players must rally behind their coach --and the Lions rallied behind Parkhill. Every time they needed a shot down the stretch, the coach was able to diagram something that worked.

"He's just so good with Xs and Os," center John Amaechi said. "It seems like every time we need a play to get a big shot, he's there. You watch him and you wonder if he just sits at home all day and says, 'Hmm, would this work?' "

It worked. It all worked last night. It even had the low-key coach clapping his hands -- a rare dose of enthusiasm for Parkhill.

And when Matt Waddell's last-ditch three-point shot fell short, and the fans mobbed the gym floor, Parkhill was caught in the middle. But even then, everything worked out fine for the eleventh-year coach.

"Fortunately, the patrolman that was with me is a big, strong guy," the coach smiled. "He ran a nice wedge."

Finally, someone else diagrammed a nice play.