Trailing just 32-31 at the end of the first half, Penn State’s trip to Nebraska started well enough for Nittany Lion head coach Patrick Chambers.

His squad wasn’t playing great, he said, but defended well enough and knocked down 44.8 percent of its shots in a half that featured five ties and a Penn State lead through its waning minutes.

A Glynn Watson 3-pointer with just 2 seconds left, however, quickly turned momentum for the Huskers. By the time Brandon Taylor picked up his second and third fouls in a span of just two seconds on the game clock, Chambers said his Nittany Lions were in trouble.

“If anything could deflate a team any more, it was those three situations. He makes a three, foul, foul,” said Chambers. “We gave them a shot. Jacobson takes an 18-foot jump shot, we're like, ‘That's exactly what we wanted, perfect.’ And then they get a rebound, foul, foul, and it spiraled.”

Though a Jordan Dickerson bucket kept the deficit a manageable 36-33 at the 16:55 mark, the Nittany Lions would collapse completely offensively as Nebraska’s Andrew White went on a personal 10-0 run to give the hosts a commanding 46-33 lead with just under 13 minutes left to play. In the span, the Nittany Lions missed all six of their field goal attempts and coughed up another three turnovers in a game they’d finish with 17.

“When Brandon Taylor is sitting on the bench, you've got younger guys out there they were kind of looking around and Shep's not making shots right now. So we're not putting pressure on the paint, we're not getting to the free throw line, and we turned it over nine times in the first half, eight times in the second half. That's a recipe for disaster,” said Chambers. “But in that eight minutes, we had opportunities and we had pretty good shots and on the road, we're not playing well.”

Chambers point could be an understatement.

Though topping Northwestern in Evanston a month ago, the Nittany Lions have been dominated in losses at Ohio State (66-46), Iowa (73-49) and most recently Nebraska (70-54). Noting his desire to pound the ball inside in Lincoln during the drought, Chambers cited a few missed bunnies, including two from Donovon Jack, missed layups from Shep Garner and a few open 3s that wouldn’t go down for Payton Banks.

Combined with an inability to get to the free throw line, a symptom of Penn State’s choices on the floor and a string of officiating misfortunes, the Nittany Lions finished the game with just nine charity stripe attempts.

“We gotta get to the free throw line, and that stops the bleeding. And we didn't get there,” said Chambers. “We gotta drive the ball with toughness and go up strong. I think sometimes what happens is you're trying to create contact and then you miss layups.”

Returning to the Bryce Jordan Center Wednesday to host No. 4 Iowa, Chambers said he’s hoping some of the scoring struggles that have accompanied his Nittany Lions playing just four games at home dating back to December 5 will dissipate.

“That should give us some confidence. I'd like to think it will give us great confidence,” said Chambers. “Obviously we're not playing terrific on the road, but being home and knowing these rims and knowing the arena like we do, I hope it gives us confidence that we can succeed and we can go on a little bit of a run here to finish out the season.

“Typically our teams finish strong. They become the best teams that they can be in February, so I'm banking on that still. I am banking on these kids becoming sophomores, sophomores becoming juniors and juniors becoming seniors. That's what we have to continue to do.”