A logjam occupies the top of the Big Ten basketball standings, with four teams holding a 5-2 record. The conference counts six in the Associated Press top 25, and Penn State (10-8, 2-5 Big Ten) sits on the outside looking in.

Despite their familiar position, with only Purdue and Minnesota below in the league standings, the Nittany Lions are a better team after tough defeats vs. Iowa (80-76 on Jan. 14) and Ohio State (75-64 on Jan. 21) and Saturday's 69-60 loss to Michigan State.

It's just hard to tell.

"Right now we don't have a whole lot to show for being better," DeChellis said. "It doesn't mean that you won't go on a streak where you win three or four games in a row."

To go on such a streak against their recent schedule would have been daunting. The Lions played their last three games vs. ranked opponents, with two more on tap. DeChellis, however, said the schedule isn't as important -- it "is what it is."

Playing on all cylinders, however, remains the key, not playing certain competition. But DeChellis said that's something Penn State hasn't done consistently, prone to "do something goofy" after making progress.

"I just had a talk with one of our players," DeChellis said. "He said, 'Coach we're this close.' I said, 'Yeah, well, we're that far away.' "

That's the same sort of wisdom displayed in The Mighty Ducks, when Gordon Bombay's penalty shot was alternately a quarter of an inch from going in and missing completely.

To keep from missing completely or clanging off the post, it may mean getting steadier contributions from every player on the floor in a given game. DeChellis said that hasn't happened this season, with the possible exception of the Lions' 74-54 win vs. Purdue on Jan. 18.

"Everybody on the team has got to give us a little bit more," DeChellis said. "We're gonna try to push guys harder, and try to, as a staff, push harder and try to get that gap closed."

Bananas

Two of the more exciting 3-point shots in Saturday's loss at Michigan State involved the same Penn State player -- sophomore guard Mike Walker. His own shot with 5:48 left gave Penn State a one-point lead and for the time, hope of victory.

"If I could do that more often, I would love to," Walker said. "We just need to be in more games like that to get more opportunities."

What he would probably not love to get more opportunities to do, however, is be the defender on the shot that iced the game. He raised his arms, trying to prevent Spartans guard Drew Neitzel from getting a clean look.

"If you ask the coaches or you ask any of our players the shot we want them to take, it would probably be Drew Neitzel shooting a running three with 45 seconds left," Walker said.

And the feeling watching the shot he said seemed to take 20 seconds to get to the hoop was less euphoric -- for him.

"You're like, if this doesn't fall, we're still alive. But if this does fall, it's over," Walker said. "I just saw it heading toward the rim, just saw all the Michigan State fans ready to explode, and he hit it, and the place went bananas."

It was a nice dunk, yeah

That's what junior guard Ben Luber had to say of Spartans guard Shannon Brown's dunk with 17:22 left in the second half. Off an outlet pass from senior forward Matt Trannon, Brown advanced on a three-on-one. Luber tried to figure out who was going where, but it was fruitless.

"All of the sudden, he took off and I just had nowhere to go," Luber said. "It was a pretty serious dunk."

He said he's seen it about 30 times, thanks to ESPN's SportsCenter selecting it as a top play. The replay juxtaposes the high-flying Brown to the Lions' shortest player in Luber (6-foot), but he said it was better that way.

"It would have been worse with [6-foot-10 forward Milos Bogetic]," Luber said. "You could only see my head in the picture."