There was one final thing Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis told his team before taking the court last night against Edinboro.

"I just hope nobody gets hurt."

And for eight minutes, all was well and healthy for the Nittany Lions. Then, with 11:57 remaining in the first half, junior Geary Claxton went up for a tip-in and banged his hand on the rim. Thirty seconds later, he was subbed out and immediately had his right hand put in ice. The Lions went on to win the game, 71-53, without their preseason All-Big Ten selection, but after the game the focus was all on Claxton.

"When I saw him holding his hand, I thought to myself, he never gets hurt," DeChellis said.

"Then he showed it to me, and I said, 'That doesn't look right.' "

The prognosis after the game was a broken pinkie finger on his shooting hand. DeChellis said Claxton will be on the shelf for at least two weeks, and after that his status will be determined on a week-to-week basis.

After a sluggish first three minutes of play, Penn State went on to dominate the first half, running its lead to 37-21 at the break.

The team then shifted into coast mode during the second half, only outscoring the visiting Fighting Scots, 34-32.

The lack of enthusiasm troubled DeChellis.

"I didn't think we played with much purpose," he said. "We were out there just running around playing. We weren't playing with purpose, but that happens, especially in an exhibition game."

The lack of purpose led to a lot of fouls, which frustrated sophomore Jamelle Cornley.

"We had too many fouls, we had several people with three, but I think just getting used to everything, getting used to playing against different people," said Cornley, the Lions leading scorer with 10 points. "We did OK for our first outing, but there's room for improvement, and hopefully we can take care of it."

But the mood was not totally bleak for the Lions.

"We shared the ball well and we didn't turn it over," DeChellis said.

The defense was also something for Penn State to hang its hat on. The defense held Edinboro's All-American candidate and former Penn State player Daren Tielsch to 15 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field.

"[Tielsch] is a very good player, and he didn't look so good tonight," Edinboro coach Greg Walcavich said. "There will be guys playing in the Big Ten that aren't as good as he is, and he didn't look so good tonight, and I think the reason he didn't look so good is because of [Penn State's defense]. They did a nice job."

Defense and ball protection were the high points of the win, but at the end of the night, a team poised to make a run in the Big Ten is without its best player for at least two weeks, maybe more. But the Lions realize they must pick up and continue to improve without Claxton.

"Our team doesn't revolve around one guy. He's a huge part anybody can see that," junior Danny Morrissey said. "We'll miss him the time he's out and he'll be back ... so I guess it's better for it to happen now then later."