The guys are just hanging out at a typical Monday afternoon practice -- smiling, telling jokes, even taking a half-court shot or two for fun.

None of this is what you would usually expect from a team that has lost seven games in a row and 16 of its last 18. But for members of the struggling Penn State men's basketball team, they know one thing for sure: Things can't get much worse.

"I don't know how to feel, it's the same feeling," guard Danny Morrissey said. "You can't really dwell on it anymore, if you keep dwelling on it ... with all the losses I don't know how much worse it can get. But you can only plan that hopefully it gets better."

When the Nittany Lions (7-18, 1-11 Big Ten) look across the court at 8 tonight in Ann Arbor, Mich., they will see a Michigan squad that has also seen better days. The Wolverines (12-15, 3-10) have lost 10 in a row, with their last win coming Jan. 15 -- in the Bryce Jordan Center against Penn State.

Both teams haven't played well since that contest. Even though the Lions lost 66-62, they kept with the Wolverines for much of the game, which is more that can be said of their recent play.

Penn State is coming off back-to-back blowouts at the hands of No. 1 Illinois (27-0, 13-0), 83-63, and a 54-39 thrashing at the hands of Northwestern (13-12, 5-7) on Saturday. (One side note -- Illinois had more points by halftime against the Lions (52) than Penn State had in the entire game against Northwestern.)

One reason the Wolverines have had such a hard time of late is the absence of junior guard Daniel Horton. He was suspended by coach Tommy Amaker on Jan. 25 after being charged with one count of domestic violence and was suspended for the rest of the season during

the weekend. Horton has since pleaded guilty and could face possible jail time.

Morrissey and the rest of the Lions know that it never gets easier to deal with the losses, but once the players are back at practice they try to block out the games.

"After a game, yeah, we're all down," Morrissey said. "But I think once we get going back to practice the attitude is pretty much the same: 'Yeah, it sucks to lose, but we know we have an opportunity to win.' "

In an effort to try and find a spark against Northwestern, Penn State coach Ed DeChellis benched starters Aaron Johnson and Travis Parker. At practice DeChellis said he wasn't sure about tonight's lineup, only stating that he'll "see who performs well [at practice] and go from there."

The Lions' roster looked even thinner than usual Monday, as backups Dan Adler and Kevin Fellows did not participate. Adler was on crutches because of a stress fracture in his foot, and Fellows was at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for a recent eye injury.

Even with a depleted roster, the Lions hope they can walk away from Ann Arbor with an experience they haven't had in some time -- a Big Ten road victory. It has now been 30 straight road conference games without a win for Penn State.

With only three contests left after tonight's game, they know time is running out for any type of win.

"You can only let it slip away so many times," senior forward Jason McDougald said. "So hopefully we can put it all together for 40 minutes and get a win. ... I just want to win, that's the bottom line."