Early this week, a Big Ten men's basketball coach said his team made strides after winning its first conference game of the year. This team, the coach said, needed to grow from the win and not take a step backwards in tonight's Penn State-Purdue game.

The coach was Purdue's Matt Painter, but it just as easily could have been Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis, whose Nittany Lions (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten) take on the Boilermakers (7-8, 1-3 Big Ten) at 6 tonight in the Bryce Jordan Center -- and look to take a step forward.

"[The players] have a taste for what this thing is about, hopefully," DeChellis said. "We don't want a taste, we want to take a bite and chew it up and swallow."

The Lions' first Big Ten victory, a 65-61 win at Northwestern a week ago, gave the team that taste. But since then, they've dropped a close and competitive game vs. Iowa on Saturday, 80-76.

To move forward, DeChellis said playing a team close, like Penn State did in losing to the Hawkeyes by just four points, isn't enough. Satisfaction in playing a team to the wire and being complacent with that is a problem.

"If I write my goals for the program on the blackboard, nowhere in the goals it says to play people close," DeChellis said. "We let one slip away on Saturday ... you certainly don't want to stub your toe again at home."

Both Penn State and Purdue sit on the cusp of credibility with one conference win apiece. They both find themselves at a point where a victory is very significant and offers a chance to build the program.

Both teams stress playing hard, but also recognize solely playing this way doesn't provide the best chance for victory. Their games this past Saturday help prove the point.

In Purdue's 72-55 victory vs. Minnesota, Painter said his team put together a whole game -- handling the press, moving the ball well and being patient with shot selection. A Jan. 7 game vs. Michigan turned into a grueling 68-65 loss when the Boilermakers didn't play as smartly down the stretch.

The Lions' Saturday loss vs. Iowa more closely resembles Purdue's game vs. Michigan. The Lions dominated the boards and played with energy. But they also took some bad shots, including a stretch in the second half when both teams put on what DeChellis called, "the Wild West show."

"I told them after the game we played hard, we didn't play well and hard all at the same time," DeChellis said. "For us to get the program to where we want it, I want us to win those games and make the plays when we need to make them."

Sophomore guard Mike Walker said notching the first conference victory vs. Northwestern and coming so close to beating Iowa made him want to win tonight "so much more."

But even if the energy from the home crowd and excitement of recent games help the Lions play hard from the very start, the 40 minutes that follow will determine if they also play well.

"It seems like every game for us this year has turned into the most important game," Walker said. "You look at a game like Purdue, a team that isn't toward the top of the league, so it's kinda like, we gotta win this game."

Not-so-slow motion

On Monday, DeChellis compared the Boilermakers to the Green Bay Packers in that you know what they bring to the floor, and you have to be able to stop it or "they're just going to keep coming." But where he said the Packers were "toss right, toss left," Purdue has an active motion offense.

Motion offense relies on getting good ball and player movement with opportunities for any one of the five players to score, not set plays. Penn State assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie said while there are rules to motion offense, there's no pattern.

"The way Purdue plays it, anybody can screen for anybody else, anybody can be out on the perimeter, anybody can be in the post," Kanaskie said. "That's why sometimes it's difficult to guard, and they're good at it."

Painter said he wants to exploit a defensive breakdown regardless of who has the ball and stressed the importance of patience and making the most of possessions. All of this will place a premium on the Lions' man-to-man defense.

Kanaskie said any Lions post player will guard senior forward Matt Keifer, a tough draw because of his ability to shoot and drive from the perimeter, rebound and play with his back to the basket. For the year, the 6-foot-10 Keifer averages 11.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game overall, but has increased those numbers to 17 points and 10 rebounds in four Big Ten games.

"We just don't want to give him any easy baskets," Kanaskie said. "No uncontested shots, no stick-backs. Make him earn everything he gets."

Penn State matchups

The Lions currently play the smallest starting five in the Big Ten, with no player standing taller than 6-foot-6 -- freshman forward Jamelle Cornley. But what first seems like a disadvantage in size becomes a potential mismatch on the floor.

Painter said Penn State's starting frontcourt of Cornley, sophomore guard Geary Claxton and senior Travis Parker present matchup problems. They rebound with quickness rather than size, he said, and Cornley has skills to go with his big body. In addition, he said Parker is an untraditional post player who makes centers guard him.

Altogether, the Lions may make Purdue players defend in ways they aren't used to defending.

"We're hoping our post can play away from the basket," Kanaskie said. "Their posts, other than Keifer, don't play beyond 15 feet."