Brandon Watkins wears his heart on his sleeve.

You can tell when he's happy, you can tell when he's keyed up and you can tell when he's hurting.

So far this season, you haven't really seen Watkins happy. There's been nothing to be happy about. Penn State's 0-6 Big Ten record is evidence of that.

Early in the first half of last night's loss to Minnesota, he was keyed up. He hit a layup over forward Michael Bauer, making the score 9-7, Golden Gophers. Then Watkins, in a very un-Watkins-like move, stood over Bauer, taunting him.

A technical foul was called, Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn removed Watkins from the game, and Bauer calmly sank two free throws.

Bauer at the charity stripe became a theme for the game, as he hit 10-of-11 from the line and a clutch three-pointer down the stretch for a total of 20 points.

Watkins, and the Nittany Lions with him, could have folded after that technical (they would save that for later).

Instead, Watkins had a brilliant game. He shot 9-for-14 for 20 points, added five assists, and commited just two turnovers.

The Lions were down by as many as 12, but in the second half, Watkins led the Lions on a furious comeback, eventually cutting the lead to just four on a three-pointer five minutes into the half.

After the Lions took the lead later in the period, it was Watkins who kept it. When Penn State's offense was so unbelievably stagnant toward the end, he repeatedly created his own shot and hit jumpers.

Freshman Aaron Johnson, who had quite a game himself (18 points, 10 rebounds), knew how important Watkins was to the team.

"Brandon did a great job keeping us in it with his mid-range game," Johnson said. "He played a hell of a game."

And yet it wasn't enough. Try as he might, he couldn't do it by himself, and the Lions blew the game in the end.

It was unbelievably painful to watch.

Imagine how painful it was for him.

During the post-game press conference, he refused to let you know what he was feeling. He answered the questions monotonously, but looked you straight in the eye. He wasn't giving an inch. But then while answering the last question of the night, he let us know how he was really feeling.

"There were a lot of plays down the stretch that we never should have let happen," he said. "There were a couple big threes, that's just inexcusable. It should have never come down to that last play. We put ourselves in that situation."

It's not going to get any easier for the Lions, but Brandon Watkins is going to continue to play with fire.