Going into winter break, the Penn State men's basketball team still hadn't won a game.

The team's 0-6 record, including embarrassing losses to the University of Pennsylvania, Yale and Pittsburgh, was its worst start since 1931.

Three weeks later, things are looking up for the Lions.

Following the Lions' sixth loss, a narrow 65-63 heartbreaker to Temple, Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn had hope for his team.

"I think we are getting better," Dunn said. "We have to take this game and use it to our advantage and learn how to finish games off."

Dunn spoke and the Nittany Lions listened, as they rattled off five straight wins from the middle of December into January, heading into Big Ten play with a much more respectable record.

The problem is that Penn State's opponents during this period were not your typical basketball powerhouses. The Lions beat Bucknell, Northeastern, St. Francis, Robert Morris and Buffalo to pad their record to 5-6.

For the Lions though, a win is a win.

"In some point in time, you need to win to gain confidence," Dunn said. "The guys felt good about themselves, which makes them extend themselves even further."

Next came the Lions' first real test since Pittsburgh, a matchup with No. 15 Indiana at Assembly Hall in Bloomington last Wednesday.

Penn State proved they belonged on the court with the Hoosiers in the first half, riding hot shooting from Brandon Watkins.

The lead switched hands often and at half time the Lions were down just 35-32.

Watkins had his best game of the season, attacking Indiana star Tom Coverdale en route to a 21-point performance.

"Sometimes he likes to gamble," Watkins said of Coverdale. "I used that to my advantage sometimes."

However, the Lions weren't able to maintain their first-half performance, and Indiana had an early 10-2 run to put the game away. The final score was 78-65.

Dunn pointed toward the Lions' lack of size for their second-half breakdown.

"I felt the difference was their inside play," Dunn said. "[George] Leach and [Jeff]Newton did a good job for them, picking up some fouls on our guys, you're usually productive when that happens."

A disturbing trend continued on Saturday when the Lions fell to Michigan in Ann Arbor, 66-53.

Again Penn State hung tough with its opponent in the first half. At the break, the Lions trailed 29-25. But the Wolverines pulled away in the second half, never relinquishing their lead.

When looking for reasons for the Lions' loss, two statistics pop out. Penn State shot just 31.4 percent from the field and suffered a huge disparity at the free throw line.

"We had a horrific night shooting," Dunn said. "When you couple not shooting well with not going to the line, that's tough to beat anybody on the road. They shot 37 [free throws] and we shot eight."

Watkins led the Lions again, scoring 16 points and dishing out four assists. LaVell Blanchard, one of four Wolverines scoring in double-digits, led Michigan with 15 points and eight rebounds.

As the season moves along, the Lion freshmen are making more and more of a contribution to the team. DeForrest Riley is starting and among the team leaders in scoring and minutes.

Guard Brandon Cameron and forward Robert Summers are seeing significant action and even walk-on Aaron Johnson is contributing.

Dunn said that he has been forced to turn to his inexperienced players for a variety of reasons. Most notable are the departures of Jamaal Tate and Daren Tielsch.

But mostly, Dunn said that he is looking for players that can make an impact on the court.