Their play continued to improve in the next three games, but it didn't show in the win column, as the Lions lost heartbreakers to California 76-73, at home against Michigan 67-63, and at Indiana 61-54.
Saturday night at Indiana, the Nittany Lions came out swinging with a 22-8 lead to start the game. They held a 30-26 lead at halftime, and leads of as many as eight points in the second half. They kept the Hoosiers from scoring a field goal for the last 5:15 seconds of the game, and tied the game at 54 with 1:15 left on the clock, but the Hoosiers scored the last seven points on free throws to win the game.
The Lions were down 48-35 early in the second half against Michigan but they battled back to come within a point of the Wolverines with 1:03 left. However, after a jumper by Michigan guard Bernard Robinson put the Wolverines up 66-63 with 26 seconds to go, Lions sophomore guard Sharif Chambliss missed two three-pointers that could have tied the game, and the Lions again fell short.
The California loss might have been the most gut-wrenching of the three losses. The Lions staged another double-digit comeback after falling down ten points early in the second half. Chambliss hit a three with 1:27 left on the clock to tie the game at 73, and after the Golden Bears failed to score, the Lions had the ball with 24 seconds to go and a shot at the victory. However, freshman forward Jan Jagla was called for travelling, and Golden Bear guard Dennis Gates hit a three with four seconds left to win the game for the Golden Bears.
Despite the losses, Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn was pleased his team's ability to compete with those teams.
"I was very proud of the way they played," Dunn said after the California loss. "I thought the effort and competitiveness they showed was very good, and we have to carry that into Big Ten play."
Those three losses put any hope of postseason play in serious jeopardy for the Lions, with the NIT requiring a .500 overall record. They would need to go 11-5 through the rest of their rugged Big Ten schedule, something even last year's Sweet 16 team couldn't do. However, they did find a lot they could build on even without victories.
Chambliss and Watkins emerged as reliable scorers, something the Lions in dire need of after losing their four leading scorers from last season. Chambliss has scored in double digits in every game since the Lions' opener. His shooting percentage from outside the arc is a ridiculous .500 (48-96) and he leads the team with 14.2 points per game.
Watkins has also stepped up his point production, averaging 13.8 points per game thus far with 20-point performances against James Madison and Bucknell, and 15 points against the Hoosiers.
The biggest improvement has been under the boards. Through the Clemson game, the Lions were being outrebounded by more than 10 boards per game. They've now outrebounded four of their last five opponents, and trimmed that deficit to 2.3 rebounds per game.
The Lions get another chance to try to turn their improvements into victories when they play Wisconsin at The Bryce Jordan Center at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
