With the Big Ten tournament approaching, the Penn State men's basketball team has pulled out the same underdog card it had used frequently during its 13-game conference losing streak.
From an "undisclosed, secret location," Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis spoke to reporters via teleconference yesterday, spouting familiar lingo.
After losing to Indiana by 31 points on Saturday, and now preparing to face No. 6-seeded Illinois in the Big Ten conference tournament on Thursday, DeChellis reached into his bank of positives.
Few people are expecting the Nittany Lions (11-18, 2-14 Big Ten) to win in Chicago, where the Illini will practically be playing a home game. DeChellis said the crowd could be swayed in favor of the ragtag, beat-up team.
"Crazy things can happen in tournaments, especially if you are underdogs," DeChellis said. "Fans tend to root for the underdog, and fans coming in will see that we are."
If the fans don't notice, the players already know. Jamelle Cornley said it was around the first Indiana game this season, when one loss became a losing streak, that potential wins by the Lions became doubted more and more.
Hopefully, Cornley said, Illinois has its doubts about the Lions after beating them, 68-50, in the lone meeting this season.
"Human nature is on our side," Cornley said. "The performance we showed on our Senior Night, it's kind of a payback thing ... Being the underdog I don't think is something we are new to, or afraid of, in any shape or form."
Now, Penn State has to win four games in succession to complete a goal that has been stated many times before. The Lions want to make it into the NCAA tournament, and the only way to do it is to beat Illinois, then win three more.
Illinois is a bubble team that isn't sure if its résumé (21-10, 9-7 Big Ten) can get it into the Big Dance. After Illinois' frontcourt combined for 51 of its 68 points two Saturdays ago against Penn State, those big men will still come to the basket hard on Thursday.
"Those who are saying X teams are in already -- I don't think anyone can feel comfortable saying, 'Hey, we are in, we don't need to win,' " DeChellis said.
DeChellis said he has seen stranger things happen, though. On Sunday, he watched assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie's son, Kevin Kanaskie, and No. 9-seeded Middle Tennessee State defeat No. 1 seed South Alabama in the Sun Belt conference tournament.
Penn State center Milos Bogetic is keeping it small-school simple. As the rest of the Penn State team sported new Nike sneakers ordered especially for the Big Ten tournament, Bogetic went into yesterday's light shooting day with old, scoffed-up shoes.
While Bogetic and Cornley agree the Lions need to defend better in the post to have a chance, Bogetic hopes there is a bit of elite-program cockiness among the Illini.
"We lost to Illinois, and they are pretty confident, so they probably think they can beat us easy, because we lost by so much last time," Bogetic said. "So I think we have a good chance against them."
