UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Seemingly no moment has proven too big for sophomore Tony Carr.
While Pat Chambers likes to point to the minutes that led up to Carr's biggest bucket of the year that came last month when he hit the buzzer beater on the road to upset Ohio State, there's no denying the importance that banked 3-pointer had on Penn State's turnaround this season.
"It would've been brutal to walk out of there with a loss," Chambers said this week. "It gave us the confidence to move forward and then because of that confidence you get more buy in, better practices, better film sessions and everything gets a little bit better. I think that's what you're seeing over the last six games."
Since the win in Columbus the Nittany Lions won four of their past five games with the lone loss coming on the road to Michigan State. Penn State loaded the highlight reel with some eye-popping dunks in the process as they won their past three games.
"I like to see the highlight dunk plays," senior Shep Garner said with a grin. "The stuff that I can't do I like to see the most. It's fun to watch. I'm out there throwing ally-oops and stuff. It's always fun to play that way."
Penn State (18-9, 8-6) downed Iowa by 24 points earlier this month and trounced Illinois last weekend on the road, 74-52. It's an exciting brand of basketball coupled with defense and rebounding that's brought Penn State to this point, one where Thursday's 8 p.m. tip in the Bryce Jordan Center against No. 8 Ohio State (22-5, 13-1) will play out in front of a White-Out crowd.
But more importantly, this Penn State team in mid February is still playing for something. With four regular season games left -- and three of them against ranked opponents in No. 8 Ohio State, No. 6 Purdue and No. 22 Michigan, Penn State has a chance to bolster their resume by making some noise ahead of the Big Ten Tournament. It's a brutal stretch on the schedule with back-to-back-to-back games against ranked opponents before finishing on the road against Nebraska, but with Penn State playing their best ball of the year it at least gives them a shot of chasing a potential NCAA Tournament bid, one that Penn State hasn't had since 2011.
“I can’t worry about rankings and RPIs,” Chambers said Tuesday. “I just can’t play that game — not right now. Let’s just be the best team we can be going into this Ohio State game.”
It would've been a crazy thought that Penn State would even be sitting in this position just three weeks ago ahead of the Ohio State upset. At the time the Lions lost three of their previous four games and Chambers' seat had to be getting warm. With athletic director Sandy Barbour saying a month prior that Chambers' job would be evaluated on how Penn State did in conference play, this turnaround has given the program life, something that hasn't always been easy to find during Chambers' six previous seasons at Penn State.
And that's why the stage for Thursday night's game is important in so many ways for this program. How will students and fans respond to a team that has something to play for? And, can this team, one that believes it can win and with Josh Reaves in the fold has looked like it can, actually pull it off?
"Ohio State on our home floor. What more do you want to ask for?" Garner said. "I think the home court advantage, that atmosphere is what this school has been waiting for and it'll be great for a lot of fans to show up and support us."
Garner has seen the Bryce Jordan Center at its worst and at its best during his time in the blue and white. During his first three years there often wasn't a whole lot to cheer for as Chambers stressed the importance of rebuilding the program and then brought in some close friends of Garner's in the highly-touted Philadelphia trio of Carr, Lamar Stevens and Nazeer Bostick.
Garner said the BJC was the loudest he's ever heard it for the Rutgers game on Jan. 27, one where 13,667 people were in the crowd. While it was the annual and popular THON game where proceeds go to the student-run dance marathon that always attracts a large crowd, that Rutgers crowd was the largest for men's basketball since March of 2011 when top-ranked Ohio State came to town. Penn State followed up the Rutgers game with a crowd of 10,394 the following weekend during the win against Iowa.
"Over the last few weeks I think we saw a lot of care and a lot of attention," Chambers said. "We're trending in the right way. I think there are people watching and people notice us and I think they like the way we play and they like the players we have and I think they know we're playing for something. I'd love to see this place rocking Thursday night with a White Out and give us a little mini version of what Beaver Stadium will be like."
So too would Garner, whose own Penn State legacy will be finalized one way or another in the coming month.
"Nobody really cares about the guy that did a whole bunch of stuff but lost," Garner said. "Nobody really cares. I'm more focused on the team and let's win as many more games as we can and then everybody can get what they want."