Entering this week with three wins and zero losses for the first time since 1999-2000, the Penn State men's basketball team could ask itself one question.

Do I feel lucky?

In wins of 80-64 vs. Long Island University (0-2) on Saturday and 93-56 vs. Nicholls State (1-3) Wednesday, the Nittany Lions have developed an attitude that suggests exactly the opposite.

"It's building up our confidence, especially for the young guys coming in," senior forward Travis Parker said. "And then the old guys, since we haven't been wining in a while since last year, it builds up our confidence, too."

Penn State certainly seemed to play that way in its two most recent games, especially in the second half of the Long Island game, in which the team shot 65.4 percent from the field. Overall, it shot 56.9 percent from the field vs. Long Island and 51.4 percent vs. Nicholls State.

That 65.4 percent mark helped put away a close game in which Long Island was close to a lead deep into the contest.

After using the first 10 minutes of the game to establish a 21-8 lead, the Lions found themselves down, 27-26, with 4:10 to go in the first half -- the Blackbirds' first lead of the game. Going into halftime up 38-32, Penn State saw its lead yo-yo from 12 points midway through the second half to just five (55-50) with under nine minutes to play.

But the Lions would go on a 19-6 run to widen the gap permanently, again using a second-half run to seal the deal. In their 66-54 season-opening win vs. Cornell, the Lions went on a 32-15 run with less than 12 minutes to play.

Hitting nearly two-thirds of its shots certainly helped Penn State, which might have been partly due to its tendency to work close to the basket. The Lions scored 50 points in the paint, taking just nine 3-point attempts (making two) -- a monumental difference from its 22 points in the paint in vs. Cornell. It's also a departure from the 18 3-point attempts they put up in that game, making just five.

"That was the game plan, to keep going to Travis and [freshman forward Jamelle Cornley] inside," said sophomore forward Geary Claxton, who scored a game- and career-high 21 points. "They were doing a heck of a job scoring."

Parker scored 18 to put up his third career double-double -- pulling in 11 rebounds -- and Cornley went 5-of-6 from the field on his way to scoring 11. Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis said Parker, who has dealt with a back injury early this season, played the way he can now that he's finally feeling good.

"He was scoring inside and demanding the ball in the post," DeChellis said. "He played the way he needs to play for us in the Big Ten."

Parker's performance was just one in a handful of individual efforts that showed the potential of different players. Claxton, who also pulled in seven rebounds for the game, offered a glimpse of his being the points-scorer the Lions need him to be. He said he struggled with his shot and upon the advice of his teammates, just kept shooting.

"He's getting banged in there and getting whacked around," DeChellis said. "He just needs to fight through that."

The trio of Claxton, Parker and Cornley on the attack is an approach DeChellis said can be useful, and a look the Lions did not particularly exploit vs. Cornell. Of the three, only Claxton scored in double digits that game, which featured junior guard Ben Luber scoring a team-high 17.

On Saturday, however, Luber switched roles to distributor. He gave out eight of the Lions' 23 assists, one example of how DeChellis said the Lions shared the ball well -- a theme for both the Long Island and Nicholls State games.

Luber and junior guard David Jackson combined for 15 of the Lions' 29 assists vs. Nicholls State, in which the Lions used 57.9 percent shooting in the first half to take a 51-27 halftime lead and not look back. The assist numbers are an indication success will come for Penn State in smartly pushing the ball up the court and getting the ball to an open man.

"We want to score. We want to run," Parker said. "If I have a game where I score two points and we have 39 assists and we win, I'm happy."

With games vs. Clemson tomorrow and at Texas A&M Dec. 3 -- both incrementally tougher opponents -- on the horizon, confidence will remain a key to playing well. And doing the things the Lions have done to get leads and confidence is something DeChellis said he's telling them to keep on doing.

"This is all uncharted waters for us," DeChellis said. "Keep pushing the basketball. Don't relax."

Notes

Freshman forward Milos Bogetic helped establish a usable bench for DeChellis, chipping in a double-double vs. Nicholls State. He scored 12 and grabbed 13 rebounds in the game, and said he's been working especially hard on rebounding the past few weeks.

"We all agreed who should do some things on the team, and they told me I'm supposed to play defense and rebound the ball and do what I can on offense," Bogetic said.

Cornley was Penn State's leading scorer vs. Nicholls State with 17 points, going 8-of-10 from the field to increase his season field goal percentage to 72 (18-of-25). But he's also made just four of his nine free throw attempts on the season, something he said he went to work on in the South Gym after a 2-of-7 free throw performance in the Lions' first exhibition game vs. Lock Haven.

Despite playing all 13 players vs. Nicholls State, DeChellis said he was trying to rest a few vs. Long Island. Among them were sophomore guard Mike Walker, who had a bad ankle; freshman guard Nikola Obradovic, who hurt his back in shooting practice Saturday; and Cornley, who was playing with a bad calf.