When the Penn State men's basketball team had a 54-game non-conference home winning streak snapped in the opening game of the season against Yale, the team set out to start a new streak.
After all, all good things must come to an end. And the previous streak had encompassed more than nine years, two head coaches and two home courts since the last non-conference home loss, a 67-65 loss to Pittsburgh in the first round of the 1992 NIT.
So the Nittany Lions went out and won their next game, a 75-66 triumph over Lafayette Nov. 21.
But that new streak didn't last quite as long as the previous one.
Penn State lost its next time out at The Bryce Jordan Center, Nov. 28 to Clemson (79-66).
Tonight, the Lions (1-4) look to start yet another home winning streak as they take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (0-6) at 7:30 at the Jordan Center.
Penn State is coming off a loss at Temple Saturday, a game in which the Owls took control from the opening tip. Temple led 40-22 at halftime and extended that lead to as much as 27 before the Lions made a late comeback on the heels of Sharif Chambliss' three-point shooting.
Despite the 75-63 loss, the Lions had posted a solid rebounding effort, losing the battle of the boards only 32-30 against a team much bigger on the inside.
It was quite an improvement over Penn State's previous outing, when in the Clemson game the Tigers out-rebounded the Lions 46-22.
Although Penn State has grabbed more rebounds than its opponent only once all season (39-35 in the win over Lafayette), the Lions should have an advantage in tonight's game.
The Mountain Hawks' tallest starter is 6-foot-7 Scott Taylor. The senior forward is averaging 5.7 boards per game, second on the team in rebounding to 6-5 senior Bobby Mbom (6.8).
Taylor is the only Lehigh player taller than 6-5 to see significant playing time thus far this season.
Despite the lack of size and 0-6 record, Lehigh has somehow managed to out-rebound its opponents by more than four per game. Compare this to Penn State's minus-eight rebounding margin, and it could spell trouble for the Lions.
Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn had stressed the need to improve the team's rebounding from last season as one of his biggest priorities and has yet to see results.
One area where the Lions are seeing increased production is from is behind the three-point line. Four different Penn State players (Chambliss, Jamaal Tate, Tyler Smith and Brandon Watkins) have led the team in three-point shooting in a game. The balanced long-range attack seems to have a different Lion step up each game, with Chambliss the most recent, against the Owls.
In addition, Penn State gets a boost with the addition of 6-11 freshman Jan Jagla to the active roster. The big German import -- who missed the first four games as a precaution against NCAA violations and will be making his home debut -- should help with rebounding and has a soft outside touch, hitting both of his three-point attempts at Temple.
The Mountain Hawks are led by guard Matt Logie. The junior leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game after a 20-point outburst Saturday in a loss to Vermont.
Although Lehigh is 0-6, the Lions would be wise not to take the Mountain Hawks lightly. Lehigh has an average margin of defeat of 6.2 points and has not lost a game by double digits. In addition, the last time these two teams met (to open the 1999-2000 season), Penn State only pulled away late after being tied at halftime in a 69-56 victory.
