It was shaping up to be another one of those days for Jan Jagla.

The 7-foot forward from Berlin was off to another slow start in Saturday's 69-59 loss to Michigan, going 1-for-9 from the field. Two points in 19 minutes.

And though he rebounded in the second half to finish with 13 points, it was not an especially impressive performance, given his play before the Michigan State game. Before that game, it looked as if coach Ed DeChellis had finally tapped the sizable potential that was dormant under the previous coaching staff. Jagla was playing with confidence, had improved his shooting, his rebounding and even exhibited a mental toughness that hadn't been seen in his time at Penn State.

But that player has seemingly disappeared in the past three games.

So what's happened to Jan Jagla?

From a preliminary standpoint, it's easy to say that the competition got tougher. It's one thing to put up strong numbers against Cleveland State and two schools named St. Francis, and quite another to do it on the road against Michigan State and Illinois. But it's not just the statistical drop-off that is troubling -- his early success has caused teams to key on him.

"It's really hard for me to play the way I've been playing," Jagla said. "Defenses have really been focusing on me and making me do stuff that I'm not comfortable doing."

Recently, Jagla has looked frustrated on the court, much like in his first two seasons. By suddenly drawing the attention of opposing defenses, he has struggled to get any momentum early in games -- something that tends to cause the big man to lose his composure. Opposing fans heckle him, even those that travel to the Bryce Jordan Center. DeChellis is aware of this tendency, and as he did in the Michigan State game, has resorted to taking Jagla off the court when he notices the frustration. If nothing else, DeChellis has been very honest in his assessment of Jagla's recent play.

"He lets things bother him," DeChellis said. "He lets one play lead to another play and bother him and that's unfortunate. That's just who he is."

Despite his tall frame, Jagla is not an ideal inside player for Big Ten play because he lacks an imposing body. This has contributed to his slide the past few games, as he has not been able to rebound as effectively and is getting out-muscled.

"I think the league adjusted to him," DeChellis said. "And he has not, in my opinion, adjusted well to the league. When you have some success, people are going to pay attention to you, and I don't think we've all handled that very well."

Michigan forward Graham Brown was usually able to successfully post up on Jagla last Saturday and the one time the German native tried it himself, he was forced too low to the baseline and had to get rid of the ball.

Even when guarded by smaller players, Jagla has struggled from the added attention. Against Illinois, the Illini occasionally had their guards focus on Jagla, but he was unable to exploit the height advantage because of the pressure.

Part of this stems from Jagla's discomfort at having to play small forward. And while this has been mostly necessitated by a lack of depth and exacerbated by transfers, Jagla still would prefer a different position.

"It's really hard for me to play out of position at the three and having to do a lot of things for the team," he said. "With the other teams focusing in on me, it's really tough to get myself going and to do the things I know I can do. It's just really tough for me right now."

The key for Jagla to break out of his slump is to regain his confidence. And unfortunately, this only seems to happen when his shot is on from the beginning of a half.

"If you make a shot it gives you a lot of confidence," he said. "That's something for me that really helps me out a lot of times. If I get something easy or hit a shot, that really gets me going."

That happened in the second half against Michigan when a defender slipped and enabled Jagla to take his time and hit an open three.

For the Lions to halt their three-game slide, they will need Jagla to be physically and mentally tough in the face of opposition. And if the Lions are winning, chances are things will brighten for the big man.