Lions looking to rebound after blowout:
“The Penn State men’s basketball team had its confidence shattered once again on Wednesday after another 20-point loss on the road in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions (7-15, 1-8 Big Ten) will have to pick up the pieces before tomorrow’s matchup with Ohio State (16-8, 5-5) — a job that is getting harder and harder to do, especially early in games.
“‘Some guys do, you can see it in our eyes — especially on the bench,’ Penn State guard Danny Morrissey said about losing confidence. ‘If we make a couple of shots … usually it is the first five minutes of the game that will dictate how we play.’
“Any coach will say that the way a team comes out in the first is usually a sign of what they’ve done that week in practice. If that’s the rule, then Penn State is finally an exception to a rule but not in a good way. Junior forward Travis Parker was visibly frustrated after the Wisconsin game on Jan. 29 because the Lions came out flat after a good couple of days of practice, and it seems as if Wednesday’s game was deja-vu for Penn State.
“‘We had two of the best practices Monday and Tuesday [before the Purdue game],’ Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. ‘That’s why [the Purdue game] was kind of a shock to us as a team and as a staff. I couldn’t have scripted the practices any better than they went. And going out and really not have the same level of basketball was really shocking.’ …”