Jamelle Cornley is no stranger to the Schottenstein Center.

Penn State's sophomore forward has been playing games on the Ohio State campus since he was in ninth grade, so today's venture into Buckeye territory is nothing new for the Columbus native.

He has had some success in the arena that lies less than seven miles from his home. In fact, his Brookhaven High School squad captured the 2002 Ohio Division I State Championship there. The Bobcats reached the final again the following season, but lost.

While the crowd at those games may have been bipartisan, he is now an outsider. Instead of having hundreds or thousands of screaming fans, his cheering section will more likely be well under the century mark.

Last year, he was able to secure between 50 and 60 tickets for family and friends. But, now that the Buckeyes are No. 2 in the country, tickets are at a premium. Cornley was only able to secure 30 for his family and friends.

"A lot more people are going to be purchasing themselves because it's pretty rough on tickets right now," Cornley said.

"But it's always nice to play in front of family."

The homecoming has some added sweetness.

His teammate from Brookhaven, Ron Lewis, is a senior guard for the Buckeyes, and they've had their share of fun during their clashes the past two seasons.

Last Wednesday, Cornley and Lewis' names were announced at the same time before the game at the Bryce Jordan Center and the former teammates made the moment memorable.

Cornley came out as he usually does -- yelling and screaming while staring down his high school friend. Lewis couldn't contain himself.

"When they called my name he started laughing and we were just joking around," Cornley said. "I asked him if he was ready and he said, 'Yeah he was ready.' And he asked me if I was ready and I said, 'Yeah, you know I'm ready.' "

But the best exchange between the two happened after the Nittany Lions mounted their furious comeback and pulled within two with less than 20 seconds remaining.

Lewis approached the foul line with an opportunity to ice the game for the Buckeyes, when Cornley decided that it was time to speak up.

"When he went to the free throw line, I just said, 'You know if you miss this shot, it's over,' " Cornley said.

Lewis missed the foul shot, the Lions grabbed the rebound and raced down the court, but Mike Walker's potential game-winning three-point attempt bounced off the back iron and the Buckeyes escaped with a narrow victory.

"Unfortunately, it got kind of rough. But at the end of the game when we went through the line to shake hands, he gave me the look like, 'Yeah, I lucked out.' Cause he knows that if you give Mikey Walker that shot again, we're still celebrating now."

While Cornley obviously was unhappy with the results from last week's contest, he is excited to have another opportunity -- maybe his last -- to play against his former teammate. He wants to make the game special, which might normally worry Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis about potential overplaying. But Cornley is different, DeChellis said.

"Sometime guys have a tendency to [try to do too much] but he's pretty good about that. He went out there last year and played very well," DeChellis said. "It's human nature to try to play a little harder against your hometown team."

So when Cornley takes the court tonight in front of his family and battles against former teammates, it will be a special time local kid who was overlooked by the Buckeyes. The only way that the trip back home could get any better for him would be if the Lions could pull off the upset.

"I don't even think that words can explain the way I would feel personally," Cornley said. "I hope it can happen, it's a dream really. If we were to get this win, it would mean a lot to me personally and to the coaches and the entire program."