Jan Jagla came through last night for not only the Nittany Lions in their 81-68 victory over Purdue, but also for his parents who were in attendance for the only time this year.

Otto and Elke Jagla made the trip over from Germany to see their son play in America for the first time -- and they were not disappointed. Jagla scored 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his career.

"It's great for my parents to actually be here and see a game and see the atmosphere," Jagla said.

The most important aspect of the German's breakout performance was the fact that the majority of his points came in the post.

He has struggled with adjusting to the American style of play and has often settled for an outside shot, but tonight the Lions and Jagla made a concerted effort to get the ball down low.

"I think he's getting more comfortable playing American ball," Sharif Chambliss said. "Because there is a big difference, they are more finesse over there. He brought a lot of that to the court tonight, but he used it in certain situations."

The six-foot-11 forward's basket with 7:58 to go in the first half put the Lions ahead for good and started a 13-2 run for Penn State. Jagla scored 10 points in that stretch.

Certainly Jagla's offensive game came around tonight, and not lagging too far behind was his defense. He swatted three shots, including a monster block in the middle of the 13-2 run. He dominated the defensive glass, grabbing nine rebounds, and coach Jerry Dunn said after the game that this was the freshman's best all-around effort to date.

Jagla's biggest contribution was his ability to spread the floor and make room for other scorers, Brandon Watkins and Chambliss. Watkins and Chambliss went 11-for-20 from the field and the team shot a season-high 56.3 percent.

"Pretty darn good tonight -- he (Jagla) was the difference," Purdue coach Gene Keady said.