The Lions' Pride

The coach showed up looking a little tired but maintained his usual enthusiasm. He spent most of the weekend on the road (Penn State played Thursday night but did not have a weekend game) recruiting, mostly prospects in the Class of 2015. He talked about the challenge of generating enthusiasm for his program in recruits when his current squad is 8-18.

"It only takes one guy," he said. "One guy can steamroll a lot of guys."

-- Chambers addressed the seven turnovers D.J. Newbill had in Thursday's loss at Illinois. He believes they're coming from a desire to make something happen on every pass or every shot.

"He wasn't out of control, he's just trying to make plays," the coach said. "We're working with him. We'll watch his shots, turnovers … he's just got to slow down. He'll be fine."

The Nittany Lions, who rank 10th in the conference in assists in Big Ten play (9.5 per game), have been sharing the ball better during the last few games, averaging 14.3 assists over their last three games. Asked if his players have improved their basketball IQ (if not their shooting accuracy) as the season has progressed, Chambers said he thinks so.

"They have a better understanding for each other," he said. "They trust each other. Maybe the ball's not going in, but we're putting ourselves in the right position to win a game, to steal a game. For me, it comes down to getting stops."

-- Chambers says he has learned a lot about himself and about coaching during the Lions' 0-14 stretch.

"If there's a benefit, that's the benefit," he said. "There's no book, no CliffsNotes, nothing on the internet to help you go through something like this."

The challenging season has caused Chambers to take a closer look at some of his long-held coaching tenets.

"(It's) not being afraid to keep things simple, to make adjustments," he said. "Not being afraid to change what you believed in years ago -- maybe that doesn't work today. Being open-minded and trying different things."

-- Penn State will face one of the nation's best guards, Michigan's Trey Burke, for the second time this season on Wednesday night in the BJC. Burke torched the Nittany Lions for 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting and had five turnovers and zero assists in the Wolverines' win in Ann Arbor eight days ago.

"He's a tough matchup 'cause he's quick and we have trouble with quick guards, small guards," Chambers said. "We'll try to corral him, keep him out of the paint the best we can."