By Genaro C. Armas
STATE COLLEGE -- Penn State's big men are playing better, while Talor Battle is finishing another fine season and finally getting more scoring help from teammates.
The Nittany Lions (11-19, 3-15 Big Ten) have improved of late, but an 0-12 start in league play was too big a hurdle for the team to overcome to get out of last place.
So hopes have sprung anew in Happy Valley with the Big Ten tournament starting today in Indianapolis, where coach Ed DeChellis' crew hopes they can pull off a few upsets as the 11th and last seed.
"It's a brand new season, a four-game season," Battle said. "If we go out there, regardless of what our record is, we win these four games, we're automatically in the (NCAA) tournament."
And that's the only way Penn State can get into the NCAAs, a rather pie-in-the-sky goal for a team with 19 losses. At the least though, the Nittany Lions can wreak havoc on higher-seeded teams either looking to improve NCAA seeding or their postseason credentials.
Minnesota, Penn State's first-round Big Ten opponent, is squarely on the NCAA bubble. The Gophers (18-12, 9-9) won both previous meetings this season, but only by a combined seven points.
Battle appears fine to play Thursday after missing the last six-plus minutes of last week's loss to Purdue in the regular-season finale due to illness. He practiced full speed Monday, the same day he was selected to the All-Big Ten second team after leading his club in points (18.8), rebounds (5.4) and assists (4.1).
DeChellis said he didn't need to pace Battle specifically in practice this week.
"We're preparing to hopefully play for several days, so we want to make sure practice-wise, we're not wearing guys out," he said.
But the key for Penn State is to get production from guys other than Battle, a season-long story line.
Center Andrew Jones and forward Jeff Brooks have played better over Penn State's 3-3 stretch the last three weeks, providing more inside scoring and energy.
Sharpshooter Chris Babb and scrappy forward David Jackson are both averaging over 10 points in league play, and Babb specifically has scored at least 14 the last three games.
And the Nittany Lions can glean confidence from close losses last week to Michigan State and Purdue, two of the league's co-champs along with Ohio State.
"All the dreams of playing in the NCAA tournament, you can do it in four days," DeChellis said. "Everybody thinks they can get into the tournament. If you don't, you're in the wrong business."
