Nebraska @ Penn St. preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 10, 2019 ) Penn St. 64, Nebraska 70

Penn State may still reside in last place in the Big Ten, but its play in February suggests it will find a way to crawl out of the cellar before the end of the regular season. After going winless in January, the Nittany Lions attempt to move to 3-2 this month on Tuesday when they host Nebraska.

Eight of Penn State's 10 losses during its 0-10 start in conference play took place last month, and although the Nittany Lions offered hints of their improved play with three close defeats to end January, they weren't able to break through until posting a 59-52 victory at Northwestern on Feb. 4. Penn State followed a four-point setback at Ohio State three days later with a stunning upset of No. 7 Michigan last Tuesday before dropping a 12-point decision at No. 11 Purdue on Saturday. The Cornhuskers have experienced their own rebirth over the last week, snapping a seven-game skid with home wins over Minnesota and Northwestern. Nebraska needs a strong finish if it has any hope of working its way back into NCAA Tournament consideration, and the Cornhuskers will have a chance to do so as they face four consecutive ranked teams to end the regular season after they try to replicate their 70-64 win over Penn State from Jan. 10.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT NEBRASKA (15-11, 5-10 Big Ten): Isaiah Roby (11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.4 steals) tallied a season-high 22 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the year in the first meeting but saved his best for Northwestern, amassing 19 points, a career-high 16 boards, a season high-tying five blocks and two steals. In doing so, the 6-8 junior became the first Cornhusker since Aleks Maric in 2008 to produce at least 19 points and 16 boards in a game. Glynn Watson Jr. (12.1 points) has returned to form offensively following a four-game stretch in which he totaled 15 points on 6-of-37 shooting, averaging 15.5 points while converting 13 of his 28 field-goal attempts over the last two contests.

ABOUT PENN STATE (9-16, 2-12): Lamar Stevens (team-high marks of 19.2 points and 8.0 rebounds) ranks second in the conference in scoring and became only the 11th Nittany Lion to reach 1,500 career points with 18 against the Boilermakers, although he was also responsible for half of his team's 16 turnovers. Myles Dread buried a pair of 3-pointers Saturday to push his team-high total to 57 for the season, leaving him 11 shy of tying Pete Lisicky (68; 1994-95) for the most ever by a Penn State freshman. After averaging 6.3 points over a seven-game stretch in January, fellow rookie guard Rasir Bolton (12.2 points) is scoring 15.4 points per game over his last five outings, topping his season scoring average each time.

TIP-INS

1. Penn State senior G Josh Reaves is four steals shy of tying Monroe Brown (239; 1989-92) for second place on the school's all-time list.

2. The Cornhuskers have committed 10 or fewer turnovers in five of the last six games but failed to score 70 points in 10 straight.

3. After averaging 10.5 points and 10.4 rebounds in eight January outings, Nittany Lions F Mike Watkins has totaled 18 points and 17 boards through four games this month.

PREDICTION: Penn State 65, Nebraska 56