Penn State senior guard Mike Walker isn't having fun playing basketball right now.

Not in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Not with

the way the Nittany Lions are losing.

Walker noted that as the second half of Penn State's blowout loss against Purdue mercilessly dragged on Wednesday night, not one Lion was smiling or laughing. What reason did they have?

But Walker said things will be fun again for Penn State (10-8, 2-4 Big Ten) if it can get its season back on track. That starts with winning on the road against Iowa when the Lions take on the Hawkeyes at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

"We pretty much just have to suck it up for two practices," Walker said. "Once we get a win, it'll be fun. ... At the end of the day, it just comes down to winning games."

Neither Penn State nor Iowa has had much recent success. The Lions are currently on a four-game losing skid on the heels of a seven-game winning streak. Their last three losses have come by an average of 21 points.

Iowa (9-11, 2-5) has fared only slightly better as of late, winning two of its last four. The Hawkeyes, however, put themselves at a deficit by dropping their first three Big Ten games.

Both teams have struggled offensively, primarily because of poor shooting. They each rank in the bottom half of the Big Ten in field goal, 3-point and free throw percentage. Iowa is last in the conference in total offense, averaging a paltry 57 points per game. Penn State has a better season average (68.8 for the year), but has scored 54 per game since senior Geary Claxton was injured against Wisconsin.

"There were a lot of negatives and not a whole lot of positives," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said of the team's loss to Purdue. "But we are going back to work. We will practice the guys who can practice and try to get better."

A once-promising season for the Lions appears to be slipping away as the losses continue to mount. Walker, who has suffered through some trying years of Penn State basketball, is hoping the team can turn things around to avoid another disappointing season.

The Lions have 12 more regular season games to reverse their fortunes.

"Last year, we let one loss lead to more losses," Walker said. "That's not something that the leaders of this team want to happen again this year. This is it for me. I'm not playing anywhere next year, so I don't want to remember basketball being 10-game losing streaks and stuff like that."