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see the ball go through the basket and start to play a little bit better." While the following game – a 60-42 loss at Purdue on Jan. 13 – didn't produce the result he'd been looking for, Chambers noted that he hadn't seen anything to suggest his players were disengaged or were losing interest. Morale was still good, he said, despite the fact that the Nittany Lions had been fighting a mostly uphill battle ever since Frazier was injured in November. "They want to win so bad that they're not making shots, and they're making mistakes because they want to win so bad," he said. "I keep telling them, 'This is a marathon, this is a journey. Relax. We've got 14 games. This isn't the end-all-be-all. This is the next game on the schedule.' "Trust me, we had fun Sunday morn- Penn State freshmen see increased playing role as season progresses Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers would prefer to bring his three true freshmen along slowly, but that's not a realistic option this season. Against arguably the toughest conference in college basketball, the Nittany Lions need to have their best players on the court – ready or not. "We're just trying to develop the younger guys, develop their habits in order for them to play longer minutes," Chambers said. "As freshmen, you just don't get it; you don't understand. You think you have three more years. Well, there are some seniors on this team who only have 14 games left, or 15 with the Big Ten tournament, so they're playing with a desperation. We need everybody to play with that desperation." To this point in the season, Brandon Taylor, a 6-foot-7, 235-pound small forward from Tabernacle, N.J., has been one of Chambers' best freshman options. Though he's only been on Penn State's campus since June, Taylor played in each of the team's first 17 games, starting 13 of them. Taylor is only averaging about 22 minutes per game – thanks in no small part to his penchant for getting into foul trouble – but he has made an impact when he's been on the court. Heading into the Jan. 23 contest at Indiana, Taylor was averaging 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds and was hitting a team-best 35.4 percent of his 3-point attempts. He's gradually developed his game beyond being simply a spot-up shooter. Taylor has also recently added some versatility, often backing down opponents and, at times, posting up. "It's gonna be huge for his development as a player. … You've gotta want to be in there, and [Taylor] does, because everybody is switching our dribble handoffs and our ball screens, so he has a mismatch," Chambers said. "He's gotta want to take that mismatch. "He's a confident kid and he wants to take shots and he believes he can make the shots. He's gotta get much better defensively, but he needs to continue to grow over these next 14 games and continue to get better, because he could be a threat for us – a big-time threat." Shooting just 27.5 percent as a team from beyond the arc in conference play, Penn State desperately needs another threat from the outside, too. Another true freshman – 6-foot-3 guard Akosa Maduegbunam – has made steady improvement. He's seeing increased minutes, and his perimeter shooting prowess has come in handy. But because Maduegbunam is still learning, Chambers has not been able to use him as much as he might want to. "You never want to put a freshman out there and watch him foul. He just wasn't ready. He doesn't know our ro- ing. … But then the ball gets thrown up, you don't make your first couple of shots and things go the other way for you. We're going to get it back. We are. It's only a matter of time before we start hitting shots again. I really believe that. "We're right there, we're playing hard, but the ball's not going in for us. Sometimes that ball wants to bounce the other way. That's what happens." tations, he wasn't picking up the offense quickly enough. So we just wanted to be patient with him and bring him along slowly," Chambers said, noting Maduegbunam's seasonhigh 18 minutes at Purdue. "He didn't light the world on fire, but he really didn't hurt us, either. "He can really shoot the basketball, and we need somebody who can shoot the basketball. He can shoot 3s. That's what he's in there for. He's a very good 3-point shooter." Donovan Jack is stuck in a similar spot. The 6-9 forward is learning schemes, as well as the dedication and effort it takes to produce and contribute at the major-college level. "You've just gotta produce. You've gotta produce in practice. [Jack] is such a talent, and he's figuring it out. He's a freshman," Chambers said. "These peaks and valleys with the freshmen – they're up, they're down, they're up, they're down. The best thing for him is, we'll get him in there again, but becoming a sophomore really does help." - NATE BAUER

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