Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/916653
W ith the heart of the Big Ten season approaching, men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers wasn't hiding from his human-nature response to Penn State's start. The Nittany Lions had won six of their first seven games, their record tainted only by a 98-87 loss to Southeastern Confer- ence favorite Texas A&M. But they were unable to take advantage of the momentum they had built, falling to North Carolina State, 85-78, in the Big Ten/ACC Chal- lenge, then going 1-1 in the first weekend of conference play with a 77-73 victory at Iowa and a 64-63 home loss to Wisconsin. The losses were not just an- other couple of blemishes on the team's record; they were missed opportunities to build the confidence of a core group of young players. So Chambers found himself trying to tie the experiences back to his primary teaching goals. Improving consistency and mental toughness, he said, would be paramount. "Would I like to beat Wisconsin? Yeah. But we have to learn from that. Would I like to beat N.C. State after starting out [with an 11-0 run]? Ab- solutely," Chambers said. "But to me, these are growing pains. We have to un- derstand what it takes in every single game in the Big Ten to be successful." Due to a scheduling quirk – the Big Ten has condensed its slate in order to hold the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York during the first weekend of March – Penn State's learning curve demands expediency. But, Chambers said, the two Big Ten FITS AND STARTS Signs of progress abound, but Patrick Chambers cites need for consistency SEEING RED Stevens goes to work on offense against Wiscon- sin. Photo by Ryan Snyder M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L |