My Opinion
Cagers need victories on road ... now

The Penn State men’s basketball team, whether it knows it or not, has its back against the wall.

After Wednesday night’s 61-58 loss to No. 17 Wisconsin at The Bryce Jordan Center, the Nittany Lions exposed an alarming inadequacy to win the close game. For the second straight home contest, Penn State hung with a ranked opponent until the final buzzer, but didn’t quite pull it off. The last such case was the team’s Jan. 6 70-67 defeat at the hands of No. 7 Purdue at the Jordan Center.

And it's only going to get harder from here. Much harder.

The Lions have a week to prepare for a road trip to Northwestern, Illinois and Iowa that can make or break their season. Winning on the road is next to impossible in the Big Ten this season, and after dropping some early home conference matchups, the Lions do not have the luxury of playing .500 ball on the road because of a strong home showing.

It seems that at home, the Lions can bang with any team in the conference, including powers like the Boilermakers and the Badgers. But on the road, they look like a totally different team, dropping non-conference games on the road to Bradley and the mighty Golden Panthers of Florida International, an embarrassing 85-67 setback in the opening round of the Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.

When away from the Jordan Center, the team looks like it is not only playing on a strange court, but on an unfamiliar planet, as well.

"(Home-court advantage) is very important right now in the Big Ten, especially for us," said forward Gyasi Cline-Heard at a press conference Tuesday before the game against Wisconsin. "It seems like we don't know how to play on the road."

When Cline-Heard was asked to further explain his team's road woes, he became visibly exasperated searching for the answer.

"It's hard to explain," he said. "I really couldn't give you an answer right now, because I don't understand what's going on with us."

Cline-Heard isn't the only Lion racking his brain for a solution to the team's current problems. If Penn State continues to struggle at the sites of conference foes and still wishes to receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament, its only hope may be to win the Big Ten Tournament, guaranteeing the team a bid.

The fact that the Big Ten is so well balanced makes the Lions' task that much tougher. Seven teams are ranked nationally and even perennial conference doormat Northwestern is making some noise with a startling upset of No. 19 Minnesota and a three-point loss at No. 23 Indiana.

Penn State is not alone in the conference having road troubles, however. Wisconsin lost to an overmatched, unranked squad at Michigan on Dec. 30. Indiana also lost at Michigan and No. 21 Ohio State as well. No. 14 Michigan State was humbled, 66-51, at Wisconsin, and No. 13 Purdue lost at the Badgers' Kohl Center.

The difference is, these teams have won at home. The Lions, off to a shaky home start, have been lacking the "advantage" component in the term home-court advantage against both Purdue and Wisconsin.

A total of just eight more points for the Lions against Purdue and Wisconsin, and they would be swaggering confidently into the Midwest next week with two big wins under their belt.

Instead, this road trip will be a huge test of the Lions' character, leadership and intensity -- three things they haven't displayed away from home yet this season.

The Lions will either emerge from their current quagmire, or return to the Jordan Center Jan. 31 against Indiana with their tails between their legs.