Jan. 16, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The upcoming schedule is a welcome sight for the Nittany Lion basketball team (12-5, 0-4 Big Ten).
After playing three of their first four conference games on the road, the Lions will host three of their next four games inside the Bryce Jordan Center, beginning on Saturday when Purdue (10-7, 2-2 Big Ten) comes to town for a 1 p.m. tip on ESPNU.
"It's good to be home," said head coach Patrick Chambers. "It's good to be in our own beds. It's good to be in our own gym. We know the baskets. We know the nets. We know the court. It's good to be home and hopefully we get a great home court advantage tomorrow."
On the heels of a narrow 76-73 setback at Indiana, the Nittany Lions are expecting another tight ballgame against the Boilers. While the Lions came up short on the scoreboard, the Indiana game was a big confidence boost for the Penn State big men. After a slow outing against Michigan last week, Donovon Jack, Brandon Taylor and Ross Travis combined for 35 points on 58 percent shooting at IU. As a team, the Lions tallied 46 points in the paint.
Chambers remarked after the game on Tuesday that it was a big point of emphasis to get the ball inside. Penn State's front line has the tools to create mismatches and give the Lions an added dimension on both ends of the floor when they are active. Now, Chambers wants to see the backcourt and frontcourt complement one another in the same game.
"We haven't hit on all cylinders all year long," said Chambers. "Our guards were just OK against Indiana and our bigs were great. And then Michigan our guards were great and our bigs weren't so great. So we have to keep mixing it up. Guys got to continue to take open shots and play with great confidence."
Inside the arc, the Nittany Lions have played well in Big Ten play. As a team, Penn State is shooting 43 percent from the field in the four Big Ten games. The Lions have shot 25 percent from three and 54 percent from inside the arc. At Indiana, the Lions shot 64 percent (27-42) from two-point range.
Coach Chambers has talked about it at length in recent days, but the Lions need to remain aggressive in getting the ball into the paint.
"Nothing changes. Put the ball inside like we've been doing," Chambers said. "Take open, uncontested threes when they're there. I felt we took too many early ones against Indiana. But overall, I think we have to get to the free throw line as well, a little bit more than we have the last few games."
The Boilers opened conference play with back-to-back wins over Minnesota (72-68) and Michigan (64-51) at home. Purdue dropped back-to-back road games at Wisconsin (62-55) and Maryland (69-60). The Boilers have a balanced offensive attack with six players averaging 8.5 points per game or more.
Purdue's rotation features two seven-footers, including junior A.J. Hammons (7-0) and freshman Isaac Haas (7-2). Both players are combing for 20.2 points and 11 rebounds per contest. Purdue ranks second in the Big Ten with 12.5 offensive rebounds per game.
"Tomorrow if Purdue wants to grind it out, we need to do a really good job of playing five guys against the ball, whether it's inside or out," said Chambers. "And then on the offensive end, our defense needs to dictate our offense."
The Nittany Lions will be hosting Purdue for the 22nd time. Penn State is 10-11 all-time in games played in Happy Valley. The two teams split last year, with Penn State scoring a 79-68 win in the BJC.