After a 77-50 pounding by Purdue last night, the Penn State men's basketball team earned a spot at the bottom of the Big Ten conference -- all by itself.

The Nittany Lions should be more concerned, though, with the lackluster performance they turned in during the battle of the Big Ten cellar dwellers.

And yes, the road woes continue, but Penn State's struggles in general overshadow the chance of winning a Big Ten road game for the first time in almost four years.

"This is the worst game we played in a long time," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said on the Penn State Sports Network. "We were out here playing to play the game and there's a big difference."

Penn State trailed 35-20 after the Boilermakers went on a 7-0 run to close the first half. Freshman guard Danny Morrissey scored 12 of those points, knocking down 4-of-5 3-pointers in the first half. Freshman forward Geary Claxton, junior forward Aaron Johnson and sophomore guard Ben Luber were held scoreless in the first 20 minutes after shooting a combined 0-for-15.

"The first five minutes dictated what we did the rest of the game," Morrissey said, "and we just didn't play that hard."

Penn State (7-15, 1-8 Big Ten) opened the second half with seven straight points from freshman guard Mike Walker, cutting the lead to 10.

With 17:46 remaining in the game, Purdue guard David Teague scored a field goal to start a 19-4 run for the Boilermakers (6-15, 2-8) and demolish any chance of a Penn State comeback. Teague and Purdue forward Carl Landry finished with 25 and 24 points, respectively.

The lone bright spot for the Lions was the shooting of Morrissey and Walker, who combined for 25 points while shooting 8-of-17 from the field. The rest of the team shot 9-of-43.

Johnson's Big Ten troubles continued as he was held scoreless and grabbed just five rebounds. In eight minutes of play, freshman forward Brandon Hassell fouled out after scoring two points. Claxton scored a season-low three points. Luber recorded just two points, shooting 1-of-9 from the field, but played an impressive game on the floor. He recorded six assists and dished out a few more nice passes that were not converted.

"I'm disappointed with them," DeChellis said. "I'm not proud of anything. We, as a group, did not do what we needed to do. Guys need to play better individually."