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FightOnState.com: Mamma Mia!:

“Those weren’t graduate-school enrollees sitting in the front row of the student section during the Penn State basketball team’s final home game. They weren’t part of the university’s continuing education program, either. Who were they?”

Nittany cryin’:

“If it’s true that contagious winning salves any wounds, so it is that habitual losing opens them. In that respect, the Penn State men’s basketball team is not a healthy unit.

“Rifts exist just below the surface that could blow the team completely apart if the losses mount next season as they did in this one. And that’s why coach Ed DeChellis and his staff know it’s imperative they find a way to stanch the bleeding if their six-year plan to redirect the program is to gain any momentum.

“So far, there is none. The Nittany Lions head to Chicago today for the start of the Big Ten tournament tomorrow on an 11-game spiral and lugging records of 7-22 overall and 1-15 in the league. In the last 14 years, only three other Big Ten teams have finished with one or zero league wins…”

Centre Daily Times | 03/06/2005 | Spartans blow out Nittany Lions after halftime:

“EAST LANSING, Mich. — Tom Izzo had his head in his hands, Ben Luber was piling up points and Michigan State — on Senior Night of all nights — looked shaken and beatable in the Breslin Center.

“That was the first half.

“In the second half, the No. 14 Spartans brought Penn State quickly back into reality.

“Michigan State used a barrage of second-half 3-pointers and a revitalized defense Saturday night to bury the Nittany Lions 90-64.

Alan Anderson and Chris Hill had big home finales for the Spartans (22-5, 14-2 Big Ten), who won for the eighth time in nine games and own the second seed in next week’s conference Tournament.

“Penn State, which led for most of the first half and by as many as eight points, dropped its 32nd straight conference road game and fell to 0-14 all-time in East Lansing. …”

Boston.com / Sports / Prep school glories take bad bounce:

“NCAA sees rise, and fall, of Fitchburg hoop stars

“FITCHBURG — In the realm of New England prep schools, Notre Dame of Fitchburg looks like a lost soul. No leafy campus. No first-rate library, arts, or athletic facility. No rich endowment. No accreditation.

“But in six seasons since the once-traditional parochial school dodged financial peril by launching a postgraduate basketball program, tiny Notre Dame (enrollment: 50) has made a big name for itself by mastering the art of helping struggling students meet the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s academic eligibility standards and reap millions of dollars in basketball scholarships.

“By its own count, Notre Dame has funneled no fewer than 47 players — nearly eight a year — to Division 1 basketball programs. And the school’s system seems nearly foolproof. Despite challenges posed by the likes of Iowa State star Will Blalock, who skipped 100 days in his junior year at East Boston High School, and Northeastern phenom Shawn James, an academic flop at a failing high school in Brooklyn, N.Y., Notre Dame officials said they have succeeded in grooming all but one of their last 30 or more basketball players to gain NCAA eligibility.

“But to what end?

“In an era when the NCAA has made improving the academic performance of student-athletes a top priority, particularly in the high-stakes hotbed of big-time college basketball, at least 18 of the 47 players (38.3 percent) who vaulted to the Division 1 stage from Notre Dame stumbled. They ran into problems ranging from losing academic eligibility to facing criminal charges for embezzlement, rioting, and rape. In many cases, they squandered lucrative scholarships, leaving them with little more than Notre Dame diplomas and frayed dreams of basketball glory. …”

FightOnState.com: Crash Landing:

“Penn State plays well early but collapses in the second half at Michigan State as Big Ten road losing streak extends to a fourth full season.

“Penn State began its final game of a frustrating Big Ten campaign with a roar, building an early eight-point advantage and leading most of the first half against Michigan State in East Lansing Saturday night.

“But the Nittany Lions eventually returned to form, giving up a game-changing 16-6 run late in the opening period before going out with another whimper in the final 20 minutes.

“In losing 90-64, Penn State fell to 7-22 overall and 1-15 in the conference, and extended its road losing streak in the league to four full seasons (32 games). The Lions are now 0-14 all time in East Lansing. …”

FightOnState.com: Penn State Closes Campaign at MSU:

“*Penn State has lost 31 straight Big Ten road games. Including conference tournament action, the Nittany Lions have dropped 34 consecutive league outings away from the BJC. Penn State’s last Big Ten road win was at Iowa (78-73) in the next to last game of the 2000-01 regular season.

“*DeChellis is 0-6 all-time against his friend Izzo. That includes two games when DeChellis was head coach at East Tennessee State.

“*Stat watch: Penn State is 0-13 all time at Michigan State. …”

Centre Daily Times | 03/05/2005 | Nittany Lions take on Spartans:

“Two months later, those four points still haunt Ed DeChellis.

“Penn State’s men’s basketball coach can’t forget Turner Battle’s buzzer-beater that gave Buffalo a two-point win in the Bryce Jordan Center on Dec. 21, or the 17-point lead his Nittany Lions squandered 12 days later in another two-point home loss to Texas A&M.;

“He wonders if this season might have played out differently had a couple shots gone the other way in either game, if his young team had entered the Big Ten slate 8-5 instead of 6-7.

“‘It’s my job to get them to recover,’ DeChellis said Thursday, ‘and I don’t think we ever really recovered the way we needed to.’ …”

Penn State closes out conference schedule:

“The Penn State men’s basketball team looks to break its 31-game road losing streak in the Big Ten when it faces No. 12 Michigan State (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten) at 8 p.m. tomorrow.

“The Nittany Lions (7-21, 1-14) are coming off their most impressive half of basketball against Big Ten competition this season.

“Penn State racked up 43 second-half points against a Minnesota team that needed a victory to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive.

“‘We’re going to show them some tape of the positive things we did [Wednesday night] during our comeback,’ Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. ‘We’re going to accentuate the positive as we get ready for Michigan State.’ …”

Gophers hold off PSU:

“The Penn State men’s basketball team finished out its 2004-05 home schedule with its best effort in the last six games, as the Nittany Lions were defeated by a Minnesota Golden Gophers team that needed a victory to stay on the NCAA tournament bubble.

“Penn State (7-22, 1-14 Big Ten) lost to Minnesota (20-9, 10-6), 73-69, last night in front of a Bryce Jordan Center crowd that was as into the game as much as any crowd all season.

“‘Look at how many people were here tonight [6,266], and it still felt like a sellout tonight, compared to when we are down 30,’ Penn State freshman guard Mike Walker said. ‘It’s a lot easier to have energy when you are close, and it was fun to play tonight even though we lost.’ …”

Centre Daily Times | 03/03/2005 | Gophers hold off Nittany Lions’ late rally attempt in home finale:

“UNIVERSITY PARK — No, it shouldn’t have been as close as four, and Minnesota would be wise to realize just how close its bubble came to bursting.

“But under the turnovers and the fouls and the errant shots, there was a game in there, a real game, not a few brief moments of hope but a legitimate shot at a Big Ten win.

“Down 14 points at the half Wed-nesday night, Penn State mustered up whatever heart it had left in this painful season, clawing back to within three points with five minutes to play before eventually falling to Minnesota in its Bryce Jordan Center finale 73-69.

“When you’ve dropped 10 straight and 15 of 16, though, only four of them by single digits, pulling out the close ones requires more than heart, and the Nittany Lions (7-21, 1-14 Big Ten) didn’t have the rest.

“‘When it got tough and we needed to make a play offensively or defensively, we didn’t make that play,’ Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. ‘We let them score, or we turned it over when we were trying to get a basket at a crucial time.’ …”