Ed DeChellis would just love to have a "life day."

With Valentine's Day tomorrow, and Greg Oden and the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes likely to receive more attention than his wife, Kim DeChellis, the Penn State head coach already has a makeup strategy.

"I've missed more birthdays and recitals and dance things, whatever that you guys know about," he said. "She's strong and she's tough, you know, and I'll give her one of those, you know, 'We love each other 364 days out of the year, we don't need a 365 day.' "

The conversation that DeChellis has with his close friends is, "Boy, I wish we could have a 'life day.'" As the Penn State men's basketball team falls farther down the Big Ten standings -- now in dead last -- with a nine-game losing streak, his life is consumed with agony.

Never this conference season, DeChellis said, have all of his players performed well on one single night. As a team, the Nittany Lions have shot a little more than 40 percent from the field during the losing streak. At the same time, Penn State has the lowest ranked scoring defense in the Big Ten, giving up an average of almost 67 points per game.

On Saturday, DeChellis watched his Lions (10-13, 1-9 Big Ten) fall into last place in the conference after a demoralizing loss to Northwestern, the lowest scoring team in the conference, 53-51, after giving up 37 points in the first half. After getting off the team flight, he went right home to watch the game tape -- twice.

It only gets worse this week, because now he is preparing for a stretch where his team plays the Buckeyes twice, and then No. 3 Wisconsin on the road. When reporters asked about how to stop Oden, DeChellis just smiled and said, "Welcome to my world."

There is no break.

"It would be nice to have a day where you could have a life for one day," DeChellis said. "That just doesn't happen. It doesn't happen during the season. That's the way it is. That's the way it is in this profession. You don't have a normal life."

DeChellis isn't alone, though, as he can't count the number of phone calls he has gotten from sympathetic coaches, he said. Sad thing is they all echoed each other.

The coaches recounted a "a made shot here," or a "free throw there" and maybe they wouldn't be losing like they have. Unfortunately, DeChellis said, there is no all-encompassing solution to Penn State's ills.

As always, since the beginning of the losing streak more than five weeks ago, DeChellis said the team has to continue to practice and try harder.

"I don't think there's a magic potion or dust I can sprinkle over anybody or the team. I think it's a process. I think it's practice," DeChellis said. "You work, you work, you work and somewhere along the way, hopefully, something good happens."

DeChellis' brand of luck won't provide for that, though. According to weather service reports, University Park is in for a substantial snowstorm before the upcoming, nationally televised home game against Ohio State.

"Absolutely," DeChellis said. "You guys don't say I have any luck."