Lions still lack consistency

The offensive attack of the Penn State men' basketball team has been inconsistent as a stubborn shower head for much of the season.

For every five minutes of hot water, there has often been 10 minutes of cold water. Sometimes, the water has not been just cold, but filthy as well.

Tuesday against Michigan, the hot water was flowing from the start of the game.

In the first five minutes, the Nittany Lions dominated the Wolverines and pulled ahead, 13-5. But Penn State is no stranger to hot starts.

Sunday against Indiana, the Lions raced to a quick 6-2 lead in the first two minutes before inconsistency reared its ugly head.

Freshman point guard Ryan Bailey picked up two early fouls against the Hoosiers, forcing Penn State coach Jerry Dunn to insert freshman David Macklin. The Lions proceeded to score just two points in the next 11 minutes .

Following the drought, Indiana was firmly in control, 24-10.

Penn State then picked up the level of play once again, and managed to cut the deficit to six points with 12:35 to go in the game.

Inconsistent as ever, though, the Lions scored just two points in the next six minutes and finally lost 70-55.

Following the game, Dunn blamed the lack of consistency on the early foul trouble, which forced him to shuffle the lineup.

On Jan. 22 against Northwestern, the water was barely dripping at the start and the Wildcats surged to an early 17-point lead. The Lions managed to find some consistency, though, and battled to a 71-69 win.

The early struggles against the Wildcats were attributed to poor shooting.

After the fast start against the Wolverines, Lions managed to remain consistent for much of the game for one of the few times this season. Penn State didn't sustain a scoring drought longer than two minutes all night.

Much of it was because they stayed out of early foul trouble.

"I thought we had continuity," Dunn said. "We stayed out of foul trouble for the most part, and with certain pieces of the puzzle on the floor it makes it easier."

The Lions also played intense basketball for nearly the entire game.

"I think concentration was the biggest thing," center Calvin Booth said. "We didn't concentrate for the full 40 minutes, but it was a lot better than the Indiana game."

In the end, Penn State could pull no closer than 55-54 with four minutes to go in the game.

Several costly turnovers down the stretch proved the water can't run hot for an entire contest.

Although Penn State looks like it's getting closer to achieving that feat.