Cramps kept sophomore forward Geary Claxton out of the men's basketball team's 71-65 loss to No. 20 Michigan Wednesday night. An awkward twist of the knee sidelined freshman forward Jamelle Cornley later in the game. Both absences were temporary, and their respective re-entries revealed a team theme: they're worn, but they're fighting.

This figures to prevail once more when the Nittany Lions (10-9, 2-6 Big Ten) travel to Champaign, Ill., for their next tough conference test, a 9 p.m. matchup Saturday at No. 6 Illinois' (20-2, 6-2) Assembly Hall.

Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said his team gave Michigan too many open shots to good shooters and couldn't get back on transition defense because it "didn't have the legs." But for how much the game's rapid pace wore a small Lions squad down, Claxton said, it wasn't for lack of effort.

"The intensity was there," Claxton said. "We came out with a lot of energy in the first half. We're gonna wear down a little bit."

Part of wearing down came from dealing with the long arms of Michigan's defense, which Cornley said discouraged the guards on the perimeter and DeChellis said they couldn't penetrate. Illinois has its own big men in 6-foot-10 forwards James Augustine and Shaun Pruitt.

Another part came in chasing down the hot shooter, the one guy DeChellis said the Lions can never seem to find. Against Michigan, senior guard Daniel Horton played the part. Against the Fighting Illini, it could be senior guard Dee Brown. Brown ranks eighth in the conference with 16.8 points per game.

Or it could be that Brown, conference leader in assists (6.38 per game), finds a way for his teammate Jamar Smith, the Big Ten's third-

leading 3-point shooter (.471), to get the ball.

Whomever it may be, finding Illinois' one guy and doing all the small things needed for victory remain paramount. The Lions' latest losses have boiled down to that one guy making one shot, a missed free throw or missing open shots down the stretch.

"It's crunch time, you've gotta find a way to make that play," DeChellis said. "We have not been the kind of team so far -- so far -- that can find a way to make that play."

And that has worn down the Lions in a mental way. For how many times Claxton's calves cramp up or Cornley lands awkwardly making the effort play, it's not making the crucial play that Cornley said was sickening.

"We're gonna have to do something, I don't know what it is," Cornley said. "We can't find that break right now, and it's very frustrating."

It's also non-plussed DeChellis, who said he didn't know what else to say to his team after losses like Wednesday's, when Lions senior forward Travis Parker missed a free throw with 1:29 to go that would have made it a two-point game. Instead, the Wolverines got the ball and Horton hit a 3-pointer to give Michigan a six-point lead.

"You can't just set up a drill in practice and say, 'OK, we gotta get over the hump,' " DeChellis said. "All I know is you gotta make plays when they're there to be made."

DeChellis said the short preparation time and coming off a loss make tomorrow's game the same situation as last Saturday's matchup vs. Michigan State, which the Lions narrowly lost, 69-60.

And with the Lions worn physically and mentally, looking for a way to make that big play, they can only do one thing.

"You gotta go in there, and you gotta go swing," DeChellis said.