Cagers seek revenge for last second, two-point loss at hands of Wildcats

By MICHAEL LELLO
Collegian Staff Writer

After losing two nailbiters to Indiana and Michigan State, the Penn State men's basketball team will have an opportunity to salvage its three-game home stand at 12:15 p.m. tomorrow when Northwestern visits The Bryce Jordan Center.

When the Nittany Lions (10-10, 2-8 Big Ten) met the Wildcats (13-6, 5-4) Jan. 20 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern needed a Julian Bonner 3-point prayer with six-tenths of a second left in overtime for a 62-60 win.

This time, the scene shifts and Penn State will have the home-court advantage, something Wildcats coach Kevin O'Neill doesn't take lightly. In fact, O'Neill said he feels the Lions should have the edge because of having had three days off after Tuesday's loss to Michigan State. Northwestern, on the other hand, had to play Michigan last night, a game it won 58-34, before travelling to State College.

In the Jan. 20 Wildcats win, Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer beat Lion Calvin Booth in a battle of the conference's premier centers, notching a double-double with 19 points and a career-high 21 rebounds.

Eschmeyer is the centerpiece of the team, and according to O'Neill, it is unfair to compare the two centers.

"For us, Eschmeyer gets the ball more than Calvin does," he said. "We try to get the ball to Esch every time down the floor."

O'Neill added that Booth does not make things easy for his 6-foot-11, sixth-year senior.

"Calvin makes it very difficult to score for Esch," he said.

Eschmeyer's rebounding prowess should be a telling factor heading into the contest, considering the Lions were manhandled under the boards against Michigan State. The Spartans snagged 36 boards to the Lions' 26 including a 21-12 edge on the offensive end.

O'Neill said his starting backcourt of freshman point guard David Newman and shooting guard Bonner will have their hands full against Lions Joe Crispin and Dan Earl.

"I think if you talk about backcourts, everyone says (Michigan's Louis) Bullock and (Robbie) Reid, but there's not a more effective backcourt in the league than those two guys," O'Neill said of the Lion tandem.

After having the day off from practice Wednesday, the Lions hope to be rested after two draining losses.

"I think going into (tomorrow) we'll be ready to play," Crispin sad. "I think this team has a lot of character. We're definitely trying to stay up. You got to take the good with the bad."

Lion assistant coach Chuck Swenson agrees that the Lions have shown resiliency and shouldn't come out flat tomorrow.

"We're not down," he said. "We're disappointed."