It's a good thing Penn State fans have at least one pleasant memory of basketball games past against Michigan State.

That of course came on the floor of the United Center in Chicago nearly two years ago when Joe Crispin, Titus Ivory, Gyasi Cline-Heard and the rest of the crew willed out a 67-65 victory in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. It's a win that is surpassed only by a second-round NCAA Tournament victory over North Carolina a few weeks later, in terms of recent significance.

Nittany Lions fans better cling to that memory like the grim, cold grip of death, because when it comes to the Lions and Spartans, almost all things good lie in East Lansing.

Penn State (5-9, 0-3 Big Ten) is 3-17 against Michigan State (9-7, 1-3) including a cool 0-7 in the Breslin Center where the two teams will meet again tonight at 6.

To be fair, in recent years, not many teams have been beating the Spartans as players like Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and Jason Richardson took the program to rarified levels.

But this year, things are different. The Spartans are mortal, going 9-9 in their last 18 dating back to last year, and teams are taking advantage.

Minnesota, Purdue and Iowa have all taken Michigan State out, exorcising demons of past defeats.

It's all in front of Penn State tonight -- Sparty the mascot, Tom Izzo, students chanting: 'Just like football' in January of '98 during a blowout win weeks after a 49-14 gridiron defeat, everything.

All the Breslin Center nightmares can be erased in one night.

But to do it, the Lions will have to play their best game of the season. This Michigan State team is not as prolific as the 1999 or 2000 versions, but there are still vestiges of the old form.

Michigan State is still just as ferocious and physical on the boards, an area where they have brutalized Penn State in the past.

Penn State's freshman swingman DeForrest Riley calls Spartan forward Aloysius Anagonye, "the most physical player in college basketball."

"They have a huge front line," Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn said. "It's a major concern."

But rebounding is an area in which the Lions have improved this year, especially with the emergence of Aaron Johnson, and the players are starting to take pride. "It's real important for us to lead the Big Ten in rebounding," Riley said. "Myself and the guards like Sharif [Chambliss] are up there rebounding as much as possible."

Robert Summers, the Lions' center will be in the lineup. The 6-foot-11 freshman played against Purdue last Saturday with a heavy heart after his grandmother died on Thursday. He will join the team after spending the first half of the week in Chicago with his family.

His presence will be needed in a game where the Lions can use all the help they can get inside.

"The Breslin Center is one of the toughest places to play in the country," Dunn said. "It's a combination of great teams and attitudes, a real collective effort." Dunn knows this from personal experience. Five times he's brought teams into the building, bright and optimistic and looking forward to leaving with a victory in hand, and five times he and his team have left disappointed.

There's no time like now to start changing history.