In 2001, the Penn State men's basketball team lost to Pittsburgh by 30 points. Last season, Pittsburgh again devastated the Nittany Lions, winning 82-60.

While No. 22 Pittsburgh has developed into one of the nation's best, Penn State has been mired in a state of anguish in past seasons.

This is a role which Penn State men's basketball coach and Monaca native Ed DeChellis would like to rectify, and tomorrow, the two schools will again engage in battle, in what looks to be a hard-fought, hard-court cat fight.

"Quite frankly, we've been embarrassed the last two years by the Pitt game, and we need to clear that up with the guys," DeChellis said. "We're a different team, and we need to come out in a different way and focus on the task at hand."

Penn State (3-1) has changed drastically from last season's bludgeoning, with a faster pace, more hustle and a positive atmosphere. With consecutive victories against three feeble patsies in St. Francis (Pa.), Buffalo and Cleveland State, tomorrow's match-up will be the team's first true test.

"We can't go in there side-stepping," DeChellis said. "We have to play our best game, we can't be playing in spurts."

Pittsburgh (5-0), on the other hand, owns a conflicting game plan consisting of physical, slower-paced and defensively dominant play, and has won 15 of its last 16 contests and is led by a guard tandem of Julius Page and Carl Krauser. In Pittsburgh's most recent game, a 59-45 victory against Duquesne, the Panthers fell behind, 24-22, at halftime but jumped in front on a stifling 15-3 run in the second half.

Penn State, after its 73-62 win against Cleveland State, will focus on mentally preparing for tomorrow's game and looks to polish some of the imperfections, such as turning the ball over, which have plagued the Lions.

According to DeForrest Riley-Smith, Penn State is not allowing its last two meetings against Pittsburgh to deter the team's preparation.

"The guys work too hard in practice to accept moral victories," Riley-Smith said.