For the Nittany Lions, now is as good a time as any to turn the season around.
The Penn State men's basketball team (5-10, 0-4 Big Ten) will have its hands full once again when it hosts No. 18 Illinois (13-3, 3-2) tomorrow at 12:15 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Lions are fresh off a 70-36 crushing at the hands of an angry Michigan State team, who rebounded from three straight road losses to hold the Lions to their lowest point total in 11 years.
Penn State shot just 23 percent from the field for the game while scoring only 11 points in the first half.
"We couldn't put the ball in the basket," said Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn. "They manhandled us and we allowed them to take advantage of us."
There is hope, however, because the talented Illini have looked very beatable as of late. They are coming off a 75-62 home win over Purdue on Wednesday night and two road losses to Iowa and Indiana before that.
Purdue, which narrowly escaped State College with a win last week, was within one point of Illinois with about six minutes left in the game before the Illini went on an 18-6 run to put the Boilermakers away.
"You can build from this," Illinois men's basketball coach Bill Self said. "You are on top of the world and then you lose two in a row. I'm not going to say the collar was tight, but there was pressure on us to win."
Illinois is led by Brian Cook, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound senior forward who leads the Big Ten in scoring at 21 points a game. The Lions will be hard-pressed to contain him inside.
"He's probably shown more confidence from a playing standpoint in the biggest games we play," Self said. "Brian sees things as well as anyone I've been around."
Joining Cook in the starting lineup will be three freshmen, James Augustine, Deron Williams and Dee Brown, along with sophomore Luther Head.
"We need to elevate our play," Dunn said. "They have four or five players that we need to pay attention to ... Cook is a lottery pick and they will be a challenge inside."
Augustine is a 6-foot-10 center while Brown has taken over the starting point guard position from Frank Williams, the former Big Ten player of the year who is now playing for the New York Knicks.
Head, who has been hampered by a groin injury this season, had a season-high 15 points and five rebounds in the win against Purdue.
The freshman, Williams, had 11 points in one of his best games since opening Big Ten play. He went 0-for-8 in a loss to Indiana and had gone 1-for-11 in the four games before Purdue. Self refused to pull Williams from the starting lineup, and his patience paid off -- Williams hit a pair of clutch three-pointers in the second half against Purdue.
Even though it appears the Lions will be completely overmatched tomorrow, there is hope because they will be on their home court, an invaluable advantage in the Big Ten.
Purdue men's basketball coach Gene Keady has talked about home-court advantage all season, and again harped on it following his team's loss to Illinois.
"It seems like every year I'm here the home court becomes more important," Keady said. "I think it's worth five or six points. I didn't research it. Maybe I should have written my master's on this."
Regardless, the Lions will definitely have their hands full.
"They are very quick to get to the ball," Dunn said. "They can compensate for mistakes with their speed and quickness."
