When the Penn State men's basketball team takes the court tonight in the Reed Center at Texas A&M, there will be no cameras, no announcers and no jeering Aggies fans. That's because the game isn't until 4 p.m. tomorrow.

The Nittany Lions (3-1) are leaving Happy Valley early this afternoon in order to establish a comfort level with a road venue, something that was lacking for much of head coach Ed DeChellis' first two years at the helm. Penn State is 2-20 under DeChellis when playing on the road.

"Until you experience going on the road and playing in a different environment, a different gym, dealing with the crowd, I don't think there's a whole lot of talk that I can do to actually prepare them for it," DeChellis said.

Worse yet, the Aggies have gone 20-3 at home over the last two seasons. Texas A&M (3-0) currently enjoys a 15-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.

Lions' captain Travis Parker doesn't care about the unfavorable numbers.

"We just have to go out and win," Parker said. "That's in the past, we gotta worry about the future now."

That future might entail Parker teaming up in the post with freshman Jamelle Cornley for significant amounts of time. Starter Brandon Hassell has been less than impressive in limited action at center, while freshman Milos Bogetic has shown talent, but not strength. Joonas Suotamo is still out with a stress reaction in the third metatarsal in his left foot.

Parker is 6-foot-5 and Cornley is 6-foot-6, making for an undersized front court tandem.

"We try to play Jamelle Cornley and Travis together," DeChellis said. "They're not very tall, but those guys are strong and athletic and can rebound and execute offensively."

The Aggies are certainly a team capable of execution on the offensive end, averaging a 33.7 point margin of victory so far. Texas A&M is led by junior guard Acie Law, who scored 19 points against the Lions in a 62-60 victory last year, and averages 19 a game this year.

Making life more difficult for Penn State, the Aggies also boast two quality players in the paint -- both with size. Joseph Jones and Marlon Pompey average over 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds between them.

"It's a concern," DeChellis said of Penn State's current inability to fill the center position with someone who is both big and productive. "We play who we have, and those guys need to step up."

Geary Claxton has been stepping up for the Lions, leading the team with over 17 points per game. Claxton's averages are also tops on the team in both offensive rebounds and total rebounds, for which he is among the leaders in the Big Ten.

Since opposing teams know to give more defensive attention to Claxton, the sophomore wing knows that he will receive an extra elbow or hand check during the games.

"Sometimes it's hard to go through that knowing that you're gonna get this, you're gonna get that, they're gonna come after you pretty hard," DeChellis said.

The Aggies play an aggressive style, so Penn State as a team should know that Texas A&M will come after the Lions pretty hard, and in an unfriendly arena, no less.

The Lions will spend this evening's practice trying to brace themselves for tomorrow's attack, but DeChellis thinks that in the end, a road win has simple ingredients.

"It's confidence and guys doing what they're supposed to do."