Lions aim to pass Purdue

By KEVIN GORMAN
Collegian Sports Writer

In the aftermath of a disastrous second-half performance that led to a devastating loss to No. 7 Michigan State last Saturday, the men's basketball team faces an important final stretch with little time to regroup.

The Nittany Lions (13-7, 5-6 Big Ten) need to win at least five of their final seven games for a berth in the NCAA tournament. The road begins with No. 25 Purdue at 8 p.m. today at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.

While the Lions have lost four out of their last five games and did not receive votes in the Associated Press poll for the first time in two months, the Boilermakers (16-6, 7-3) are tied with No. 24 Minnesota for second place in the conference standings.

"We've never beaten them easily. It's always been a tough game," Purdue Coach Gene Keady said. "We're looking forward to another tough battle. I think it's going to be similar to the way it was at (Rec Hall on Jan. 28). I think they're one of the top division teams in the league yet."

Whereas Purdue defeated first-place Michigan State 78-69 last Tuesday in East Lansing, the Lions were dealt a blow when a 32-28 halftime advantage turned into a fast-paced 68-53 Spartan victory.

"I think everybody was pretty much surprised that we were up by four at the half, and I guess we came out lackadaisical," sophomore power forward Phil Williams said. "That's not going to happen again, I guarantee you. "I don't think we were playing to win, we were more just like playing to play."

That type of attitude has cost the Lions close games to Minnesota (69-67), Indiana (71-69) and Purdue (65-62), and is a reason they have not beaten a ranked opponent this season. Coach Bruce Parkhill insisted the Lions will need to be more physical defensively and have to make the open shot from the outside on offense.

"The next couple of weeks will really challenge us, and we'll see what kind of toughness this team has, what kind of ability we have to pull together," Parkhill said. "There have been times in certain games that when we were challenged, we didn't have that toughness to face that challenge."

Despite Purdue's upset over Michigan State, the Boilermakers are coming off an 82-73 loss to Indiana in Bloomington Sunday.

Senior forward Cuonzo Martin leads Purdue in scoring with 18 points per game and is second in the Big Ten in three-point field-goal percentage at .483 (58-of-120). Junior forwards Brandon Brantley and Roy Hairston, both 6-foot-8, add another 22 points to the frontcourt. Senior guard Matt Waddell is a threat from the perimeter --he scored 19 points against the Lions in the first matchup.

"They are able to go real deep and they're very athletic. I think that's the biggest factor," Parkhill said. "They have some guys that can put the ball in the basket, but they are also very good defensively and they're deep."

Penn State, however, has a size advantage with 6-foot-10, 270-pound senior center John Amaechi -- who is eighth in Big Ten scoring at 16.5 points per game and second in rebounds with 10.1 per game --in the paint. The Boilermakers' tallest starter, freshman Brad Miller, is 6-foot-11, but weighs 35 pounds less than Amaechi.

"I think they have pretty good balance, although Amaechi will be a priority," Keady said. "He's a hard matchup for us because we don't have anybody that big. We've got to give help. We got good help on him last time. I don't know if we can do that twice."

If the Lions are going to play in the postseason, an adjustment of attitude and performance is necessary, both players and coaches said. If Amaechi is being double-teamed underneath, Parkhill said, somebody will be open on the perimeter and must make his shots.

"We're in a situation where we need the next couple of games to get into the tournament, but we're still going to play that way -- like mad dogs -- the way we should be playing," Williams said. "I can't speak for everybody on the team, but I can speak for myself and I'm going for angry, I'm pissed off. I'm pissed off about the way we've been playing."