On the road again.

The Penn State men's basketball team will take to the road again tonight at 8 p.m. as it faces Minnesota in the Williams Arena. This game is the middle game of a brutal three-game swing that will end in Iowa on Saturday.

Both teams are riding streaks entering this match-up as the Golden Gophers (11-7, 4-3) are yet to lose at home this season in the Big Ten with a 3-0 mark, and the Nittany Lions (5-13, 1-6) have yet to register a win on the road in seven tries this season.

"I think everybody plays a little better at home," Minnesota coach Dan Monson said in the Big Ten teleconference. "It's just easier when you got 15,000 people encouraging you to get the loose ball or to get back and play defense or any of those things."

Minnesota is coming off a big win, 89-71, on Saturday over Ohio State. The game saw senior forward Travarus Bennett score 21 points on a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including 3-for-3 from three-point land and 6-for-6 from the line. He also led the team in rebounding with seven.

The Golden Gophers get the bulk of their scoring and rebounding from the combo of fifth-year senior Dusty Rychart and freshman Rick Rickert. Rychart leads the team in scoring and rebounds and both are in the top 10 in Big Ten field goal percentage.

Their backcourt saw some changes in their last game against Ohio State when junior Kevin Burleson did not start in favor of senior Kerwin Fleming. Fleming had season-high three assists and Burleson had nine assists, as they both played 28 minutes. Burleson is currently second in the Big Ten in assists.

The frontcourt has also seen its share of revamping as junior center Jerry Holman made his second start of the season in favor of sophomore Michael Bauer, who has started all but two games. Holman leads the team in field goal percentage and is fifth in the Big Ten. The sophomore is third on the team in scoring at 11 points a game.

The Lions figure to see the ball pounded down low much of the contest as they have struggled defending big men all season.

"I think our frontcourt size is something that we go into every game with probably an advantage," Monson said.

"We have a lot of skilled size up front. We don't always get to it. The game is started out in the backcourt and I think their quickness in the backcourt, (Brandon) Watkins and (Sharif) Chambliss, are something we got to be able to control."

Against Wisconsin, junior point guard Brandon Watkins and sophomore guard Sharif Chambliss weren't controlled defensively as they shut down the guards of Wisconsin.

With Minnesota's wealth of talent in the post, Watkins and Chambliss will need to do their best to prevent easy entry passes.

"I think that both guys have improved as the year has gone on," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said. "I think both are certainly very capable players at both ends of the floor. Defensively both guys have the ability to do a good job of keeping the ball in front."