Most Big Ten men's basketball programs usually wouldn't have reason to fear a home opener against an opponent from the Patriot league.

But in Penn State's (1-2) case, tonight's contest against Lehigh is a different story. The Nittany Lions will be looking across the court at a squad that is coming off an NCAA tournament birth and is looking to win its conference for the second straight year.

"They're kids that can really play, they're different than they've been in the past," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said.

The Mountain Hawks return four of their starters from last year, along with High Point transfer Joe Knight, whom DeChellis recruited when he was at East Tennessee State. Tonight will be Lehigh's first game of the season.

The Lions are hoping to start their home schedule on a high note after going 1-2 in last weekend's Black Coaches Association Classic. Junior transfer Travis Parker thinks the team can use the tournament as a boost despite the results.

"We got the jitters out, so now we can start practicing real hard and get ready for [Lehigh]," he said. "I'm not really worried about them, I think we need to worry about ourselves first."

DeChellis was glad some of his new players could get thrown into the fire right away.

"I think our young kids learned a lot about what it's going to be all about, not just playing the games, obviously that's the most important, but the game preparation," he said. "They just have never done that in high school, to watch tape for an hour at 10 o'clock at night and get up early in the morning ... "

The Lions hope to have a presence on the boards against the Hawks, as the team's rebounding has mirrored its success so far. In the loss to South Carolina State Tuesday, the Lions were out-rebounded 42-23. But in Monday's win over Western Carolina, Penn State had the edge, 51-35.

Parker agreed the Lions have to be better in that area, but thinks it all comes down to the basics in the end.

"Definitely rebounding, but defense too," he said. "If we do better on defense, it will lead to offense. If we stop people, get steals, start rebounding, it will help on offense."