Ed DeChellis paused between each question, taking a short breath before starting again. He seemed tired. Maybe it was from his daily run -- or maybe fatigue was finally setting in from enduring Penn State's toughest five-game stretch in 110 years.

"It's such a fine line between winning and losing -- a shot here, a turnover, a possession, a rebound," the Penn State men's basketball coach said. "It either makes you feel good or makes you feel really bad."

And for the last two weeks, then, the Nittany Lions had to feel horrible. Three games, two tight matchups, no wins. And it won't get any easier at 8 tonight, when Penn State (10-8, 2-5 Big Ten) takes on its fourth-straight ranked opponent, No. 20 Michigan, at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Earlier in the season, it didn't seem like Michigan (15-3, 5-2) would be that team. After all, the Wolverines only recorded four conference wins one year ago -- and they're only two years removed from a postseason ban after a booster bribed recruits, like Chris Webber, to play in Ann Arbor.

Now, they're tied atop the Big Ten standings. And a lot of that success can be directly attributed to their versatile offense. Four of Michigan's starters average 11 or more points per game, and the Wolverines are ranked first in the conference in field goal percentage (49.6).

And the worst field-goal percentage defense? Penn State at 44.4 percent.

Needless to say, that's not a good combination. But at least one of those players, Lester Abram, won't start and may not play in tonight's contest. Abram, a 6-foot-6 wing, is day-to-day with a severe ankle sprain. Sophomore wing Ron Coleman is expected to start in Abram's place.

While Michigan's offense has already proved itself, coach Tommy Amaker had plenty of nice things to say about Penn State -- especially sophomore Geary Claxton.

"I just love Claxton," Amaker said. "He's one of the most underrated players in the country -- he's athletic, he scores, he rebounds and he's strong."

Amaker also praised freshman Jamelle Cornley's play despite his recent struggles. And even Cornley acknowledged his significant drop in production.

"The last two games, I'm shooting 4-of-15 from the field," he said, shaking his head.

"I understand I've always been a scorer, but there's going to be my nights where I don't score a whole lot -- it's just a matter of if I can do some other things to help out the team."

Cornley said teams have started double-teaming him, but he's watching game film on Michigan to see how he can exploit the Wolverines from being too over-aggressive -- like pump-faking more, for instance.