It was an exhausting week for coach Jerry Dunn and the Penn State men's basketball team.

After coming off a disappointing road trip in which the Nittany Lions (13-7, 3-6 Big Ten) went 1-3, the squad returned home last Wednesday to take on Illinois.

Entering the week, Penn State knew that it needed to start winning on its home floor if it had any hopes of seeing some type of postseason play. Since the Lions and most of the Big Ten has struggled on the road this season, Penn State was left with a trio of games at The Bryce Jordan Center to make up ground on some of the other teams in the Big Ten.

Peaks and Valleys

The Fighting Illini came into Happy Valley ranked as high as No. 6 in the country

And early on Illinois lived up to its billing as one of the nation's top teams by pounding Penn State inside.

Led by Brian Cook, the Illinois offense seemed to manhandle the Lions defense early on in the game.

However, Penn State responded in the second half by tightening its defense and hitting key baskets from Titus Ivory, Gyasi Cline-Heard and Jon Crispin. The strong play from Ivory and Heard pushed the Lions to a 98-95 overtime victory over the Illini.

The win sent some of the 8,953 fans to the floor in celebration. While the win left many Penn State players pleased, some of the players wanted to stay focused on what would happen next.

"We're pleased with the win, but we're still 3-5 in the conference," Joe Crispin said after the victory.

On Saturday, 15,232 packed The Bryce Jordan Center in hopes of seeing the Lions shut down the Indiana Hoosiers' stars Kirk Haston and Jared Jeffries.

Unfortunately, Penn State came out slow and trailed by as many as 20 points.

"We came out flat and that certainly isn't something that you can do in this league," Dunn said.

In the second half, the Lions battled back and took a three-point lead with 20 seconds left in the game.

Then the bottom dropped out when Haston hit a fade away three-pointer with 3.9 seconds remaining on the clock.

The basket sent Penn State into its second straight overtime game, but this time it would have a different ending.

The Lions would leave The Bryce Jordan Center unhappy, losing out to Indiana in a close one, 85-78.

"We had no business losing the game," Crispin said. "We just had guys that didn't show up ready to play."

NCAA Tournament woes?

After knocking off Kentucky, Temple and Illinois, Penn State appeared to be on a path it has not been traveled by a Lion team since 1995. Despite having some skeptics, the win against Illinois left many players believing that they were going to be dancing come March.

That is, until the Lions lost to Indiana Saturday.

"It still seems like it still really hurts," Marcus Banta said. "That was the game that we felt we needed to get us into the Tournament."

The loss to Indiana did not entirely destroy Penn State's chances of making the NCAA Tournament. The Lions still have eight games left in the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament at the end of the season.

However, it has placed them in a position that each game is crucial.

"This has left us a very low margin for error," Dunn said.

Court date set

After being charged with risking a catastrophe after allegedly pulling a fire alarm Dec. 29 in a New York hotel, Banta said that he is expected to be in a New Jersey courtroom on March 22. Banta and the Lions were in New York to play in the ECAC Tournament. The sophomore also said he expects to be placed on six months probation for his involvement in pulling the fire alarm.