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MEN'S BASKETBALL Uphill battle After a strong start, the Nittany Lions strive to fight through fatigue in Big Ten play This season was supposed to be different. Welcoming the return of fifth-year senior point guard Tim Frazier, along with a host of significant upgrades from a 201213 team that won just 10 games, Patrick Chambers' Nittany Lions were poised to avoid big losing streaks this year. Don't look now. Tuesday night in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Penn State men's basketball team lost its fifth consecutive game – this time a 80-67 thumping at the hands of the host Wolverines. The loss dropped the Nittany Lions to 9-9 on the season and 0-5 in the Big Ten while extending its conference losing streak to seven games, dating back to March 2013. Part of the problem, according to Chambers, can be traced back to the Nittany Lions' demoralizing Rec Hall overtime loss to Princeton in December. "We've had a few [heart-to-heart talks] already, ever since the Princeton game, trying to regain our confidence and getting J A N U A R Y back to the way we played in New York," Chambers said, referencing his Nittany Lions' Barclays Classic win against St. John's. "We just gotta play with great confidence, play a little bit looser, don't get so caught up in the outcome but try to win each possession as they come. If we can just do a better job of that and finish games, then our record could easily be very different right now. But, for whatever reason, it's not." Averaging just 65.2 points per game against conference opponents, the Nittany Lions' scoring average has dipped a full 16 points per game, sending the squad from the conference's fourth-best scoring offense in the non-conference season all the way down to No. 10 just five games in. Though the Nittany Lions are faring slightly better in points surrendered (76.2 PPG in non-conference play vs. 73.2 in Big Ten), their inability to produce points against conference opponents has sent the team's scoring margin from +8.0 all 1 5 , 2 0 1 3 7 the way down to -11.0. As is to be expected, nearly every other statistical offensive category has followed suit. Team field goal percentage against nonconference opponents finished at 47.7 percent. Against Big Ten opponents? The Nittany Lions are hitting just 39.6 percent of their shots. Three-pointers have dropped from 35.6 percent to a rate of just 29.7 percent. Even free throws, the same experience regardless of opponent, have fallen from 75.6 down to 69.6 percent against in-conference foes. "I wouldn't say [we've] regressed. I would say mentally maybe we're a little bit fatigued," Chambers said. "Now you're in the Big Ten, so every game is crucial and you want to win every game. I'm sure they're putting pressure on themselves." The Nittany Lions will get their next opportunity in Big Ten play when they face the Boilermakers (11-5 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) on Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind. (7 p.m., ESPNU). – NATE BAUER B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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