You could call it the play of the game.

Late in the first half of the Penn State men's basketball game Wednesday vs. Purdue, sophomore forward Geary Claxton turned the ball over, raced back down-court and blocked Purdue guard Bryant Dillon's shot.

The rebound fell to sophomore guard Mike Walker, who threw a long outlet pass to freshman forward Jamelle Cornley. He slammed down an emphatic dunk just before the buzzer and crowd rang out simultaneously.

Only eight seconds spanned from turnover to throw-down, so it's hard to single out this one series in 40 good minutes of basketball as the one of the game the Nittany Lions won, 74-54.

But more than the play of the game, those eight seconds said something about Penn State's playing attitude during its last three games, which could echo forth into tomorrow's game vs. Ohio State. The Lions were playing energetic basketball

"You can't go out there flatfooted," DeChellis said. "They're starting to understand, they're starting to believe, boy, this could be fun."

Perhaps no one understands that more than Claxton, a player central to that play and game, and ultimately, the Lions' season.

"Tonight I was into it," Claxton said after the game. "I've been getting into it, trying to hype up the team."

Claxton scored 20 and rebounded 10 in "getting into it" Wednesday. Those numbers aren't too far from the 17 points and six rebounds Claxton had in the Lions' 104-69 loss vs. Ohio State 15 days ago. But despite the similar numbers, DeChellis said the forward was more active Wednesday than he had been earlier in the season.

"Some of the non-conference games he was kind of taking some time off," DeChellis said. "I think he's played really, really hard here lately. He understands this is the time you gotta go."

Against Purdue, Claxton certainly went, outreaching and outhustling the Boilermakers for rebounds. Painter said you have to guard Claxton with a mirror of himself -- someone 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, and quick.

Lacking that type of player and shorthanded, Purdue had no answer, even though Painter said his team geared up specifically to stop Claxton. But Ohio State has a stronger group of scorers (79.9 points per game to 67.7 entering this week) than Purdue.

But even if the Buckeyes' potent attack keeps Claxton from having the same level of dominance he did vs. Purdue, it could be the energy he said the whole team lacked in the first matchup that makes tomorrow's game different.

"We didn't compete [vs. Ohio State] and next game," Claxton said. "Coach got on us and we just put our foot down and said every game that we play from here on out, we're just gonna try to play our best to play hard."

And lately, especially Wednesday, it's been coaxed out in full force in all facets of the game. Claxton showed that in hustle of the Dillon shot block. In the larger picture, Claxton was one of the handful of sophomores and freshmen Painter said after the game, "kicked us tonight."

In the largest picture, DeChellis said the whole team has a good attitude, and he hasn't had the team vibe the Lions have this year since leaving Eastern Tennessee State three years ago.

After the Purdue game, Claxton sat with Cornley -- a self-described energy guy -- answering questions. When asked about the effects of Cornley's energy, the normally stoic player smiled, and gave a simple answer.

"I've been feeding off it," Claxton said.

On Wednesday DeChellis said the Lions played the way the game needs to be played -- with energy and emotion. And about two weeks after his squad came out "flatfooted," DeChellis said he will learn if Penn State's gotten any better; whether the play, and a player at the core, will use that same energy tomorrow.

"If you've got that energy, you can do anything, basically," Claxton said. "We're just going to try to do that from here on out."