UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Welcome to live in-game coverage on GoPSUsports.com for the Penn State men's hockey contest against No. 5 Wisconsin on Friday, March 7 inside Pegula Ice Arena. 

BLOG: What to Watch  |  BLOG: McDonagh Reflects On Penn State Career

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's hockey team will play their third straight ranked opponent this weekend at Pegula Ice Arena, as No. 5 Wisconsin makes its first visit to Happy Valley for hockey. The Nittany Lions enter with a 6-22-2 overall record, while the Badgers are 19-9-2 in 2013-14.

BLOG: McDonagh Reflects On Penn State Career


Pregame Reading
What To Watch - Penn State

Finish Strong: Penn State will play its final four games of the regular season inside of Pegula Ice Arena, starting tonight vs. Wisconsin. The No. 5 Badgers mark the third straight ranked opponent for Penn State and will be the sixth ranked opponent to enter Pegula this season. The Lions opened the inaugural season of Big Ten play at Wisconsin, losing 7-1 and 4-3, respectively.

Making Musico: It had been 370 days since PJ Musico led the Nittany Lions out of the tunnel as the starting goaltender. He did so at Minnesota on March 1 and led the Lions in a gritty effort versus the No. 2 Gophers. The junior made 35 saves in the team's 2-1 loss in his first start since Feb. 24, 2013 at Wisconsin. Musico has now appeared in five games and made 61 saves on the season.

Getting Off the Scheid: Eric Scheid continues to lead the Nittany Lions in points and goals this season, but the sophomore hasn't scored in five games. His last point came against Michigan State in a 2-2 tie, which gave him a three-game points streak at the time. On the season, Scheid has 19 points on 11 goals and eight assists.

What To Watch - Wisconsin

Welcome to Happy Valley: Wisconsin will be playing their fifth and sixth games vs. Penn State this weekend, but will be making their first trip to the University Park campus. Penn State took one of two games last season and dropped both meetings in Madison this season.

Rumpel-stiltskin: He might not be spinning straw into goal, but junior goaltender Joel Rumpel good as gold in net for the Badgers. He leads the the Big Ten with a .786 winning percentage (16-4-1), 1.83 goals-against average and .936 save percentage. He also went 5-1-1 with a 1.42 goals-against average, .954 save percentage and one shutout in February.

Closing on the Road: Wisconsin will close out the regular season with four straight road contests, at Penn State and at Michigan State. The Badgers are 2-7-1 on the road this season after posting the third-best road record in the country last year at 8-2-4. UW is 1-1-1 on the road in its last three games, including a victory at Ohio State on Feb. 15 in UW's last road contest. UW has been outscored 37-20 on the road this season

--NITTANY LIONS--

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's basketball team was upset in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday in Indianapolis. The Lady Lions will head into the NCAA Tournament with a 22-7 overall record.

We talked to senior's Ariel Edwards and Maggie Lucas following the 99-82 loss to Ohio State. The two teams combined for 181 points, which is a new Big Ten Tournament record, and Penn State was led by 29 points from Edwards and 21 from Lucas.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State baseball program will head to California to play eight games in nine days, starting tonight vs. St. Mary's at 5 p.m. ET. The Nittany Lions enter the weekend with a 3-6 overall record after winning the series finale last weekend vs. Hofstra in Asheboro, N.C.

Head coach Rob Cooper and sophomore relief pitcher Jack Anderson talked about last weekend and what the team needs to do as they move forward in this week's series preview.

By Matt Allibone, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Rob Cooper can't remember the exact moment he knew that Ross Oeder's prowess on the baseball diamond extended beyond simply hitting and fielding, but he knows that it didn't take him long to realize he had someone special on his hands.

As he coached Oeder at Wright State from 2005-07, two things became apparent to Cooper very quickly. First, the Sandusky, Ohio, native would be a professional baseball player someday, and second, he had all the tools to be a great coach.

"I picked up early that [Oeder] was always prepared, very coachable, and always asked questions to try and become better," Cooper said. "He cared about learning more about [baseball] and understanding why things work the way they do and he was really good at motivating his teammates."

More than six years have passed since Oeder finished playing for Cooper, and the pupil has certainly proven his mentor correct.

After a career in which he was named Horizon League Player of the Year in 2007 and spent two years in the St. Louis Cardinals organization with the Batavia Muckdogs (New York-Penn League) and the Quad City River Bandits (Class A), Oeder reinvented himself as an assistant coach, spending four years under Cooper at Wright State before joining him at Penn State as the Nittany Lions new hitting and infield coach.

While coaching at his alma mater was a dream come true for Oeder, the transition from Raiders green and gold to Lions blue and white has been seamless for the 28-year old.

"It's been awesome and I love it here," Oeder said. "We have facilities like Holuba Hall and Medlar Field at Lubrano Park and that's the cool part about this place but it's been inviting since day one and the pride that everyone has in this university is second to none."

As someone who learned hitting techniques at both the collegiate and the professional level, Oeder has been able to bring a unique mix of drills and batting exercises to the Penn State baseball program.

Oeder's plan so far has been to first bring the younger players along with many of the same drills that Cooper taught him at Wright State, while challenging the upperclassmen with things that he learned in the minor leagues. 

"You have to vary a little bit with younger and older guys and pick what [drills] you want to throw at certain players so you don't overload them," Oeder said. "For guys that grasp things really quick I throw as much information and philosophies that I learned in pro ball at them but it's been a good transition."

So far, the players have responded enthusiastically to Oeder's coaching, not just because of his infield and hitting drills but also because of his attitude.

For sophomore third baseman Tyler Kendall, the best part about playing for Oeder has been the coach's ability to connect with players while instilling in them his professional experience.

"He means business when we're in there hitting but he's like a friend and a great coach," Kendall said. "It's extremely helpful working on [hitting] the other way and attacking off-speed pitching with someone who's actually done it."

As much as Oeder has learned over the years from Cooper, he has not been afraid to add his own tweaks to philosophies when coaching the Nittany Lions, something that his former coach believes has been beneficial to both of them as well as the players.

While Cooper enjoys having an assistant coach around that knows his style, he said that he hired Oeder because he knew the former All-American could make his own impact on a team instead of just reiterating everything that Cooper had already said himself.

"There's a lot of good having former players coach with you because they understand what you want but they have to be good coaches," Cooper said. "[Oeder's] not just going to say yes to me because I was his coach. He's going to tell me what we need to do or what doesn't work and there's always something behind it."

Oeder admits he does miss the feel of being a player, but he said he has enjoyed every minute of coaching alongside the man that helped get his career started.

Though he can picture himself being a head coach somewhere someday, Oeder is content with where he currently is, helping the Nittany Lions get back on the winning path.

"It's pretty neat having the chance to come back and coach for [Cooper] and now being able to learn more from him in terms of recruiting and running a program," Oeder said. "Someday I would love to have the opportunity to be a head coach, but for now I'm enjoying the assistant role and I love to teach the game."

If you ask Cooper, there is little doubt in his mind that Oeder will one day be the leader of a program, and when that day comes, he will be as proud as anyone.

"He's organized, he's smart, he's a great recruiter, but most importantly, he knows how to care about student-athletes and expect the most out of them," Cooper said. "He's made a big impact on my life and my career and he's going to make our team better and help build this into a championship program."

--NITTANY LIONS--

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Following a dominant performance at Northwestern on Thursday, the Nittany Lion basketball team (15-15, 6-11) traveled straight to Minnesota in preparation for the final regular season game of the season against the Gophers (18-12, 7-10).  Penn State and Minnesota will tip on Sunday at 5:15 p.m. inside Williams Arena (BTN).

Fueled by superb defense, Penn State powered past Northwestern for its sixth conference win of the season.  Standing at .500 heading into the final Sunday of the regular season, the Nittany Lions remain focused on being the best team they can be at the end of the season.

"I think we just have to keep getting better, and I think we are," head coach Patrick Chambers said.  "Jordan Dickerson is getting better.  Brandon Taylor is getting better.  Graham Woodward is getting better.  A lot of guys are getting better.  The crazy thing is, I think D.J. Newbill is getting better.  We just need to stay on that path and control what we can control."

Take a look through some things to watch for in Penn State's final regular season game of the 2013-'14 season.

Complete Team Effort Drives Lions at Northwestern
Road victories are often a byproduct of contributions from not just a team's go-to players but everyone on the bench.  Thursday night's 27-point victory at Northwestern was a living, breathing example of a team victory for the Nittany Lion basketball team.  Eight different players accounted for Penn State's 59 points in Evanston.  The Lions shot 50 percent from the field and held Northwestern to 23 percent shooting for the game.  The collective attitude and energy the Nittany Lions brought on both ends of the floor was the difference in Thursday night's triumph, which marked the largest margin of victory in a Big Ten road game since 1995.  The Wildcats scored the first basket of the game, but never led again in a truly dominant performance from the Nittany Lions.

"I think our rotations were tighter (on defense)," Chambers said.  "I felt like guys helped each other out.  There was a lot of trust out there.  Our guys were dialed in for the entire 40 minutes.  I'd like to see us play harder without fouling in the second half.  But for the most part, our man, our zone, our three-quarter-court pressure, I thought we did a really good job.  We played hard.  We played with good energy.  We communicated.  Those things were good.  That's our effort and our attitude."

Road Success
Penn State has a chance to make some history on Sunday evening in Minnesota.  With three Big Ten road victories in hand, the Nittany Lions have tied the program-high for conference road wins.  A Penn State team has never won four Big Ten games away from home in a single season.  Additionally, the Nittany Lions now have five true road victories in 2013-'14, which is the most since 2008-'09 when the Blue and White won six games during its march to the NIT title.  Coach Chambers often speaks to the team about playing with a road attitude.  The Lions have been strong in Big Ten play away from home because of their competitive edge and ability to play together for 40 minutes.  Playing with a positive, yet relentless attitude has been a big contributor to the success on the road.

Big Ten Bracket on the Horizon
There are six games remaining on the 2014 Big Ten schedule (two on Saturday and four on Sunday).  Seeding for the Big Ten Tournament remains wide open following Thursday's games.  Michigan will be the No. 1 seed after clinching the title outright with a victory at Illinois.  Positions two through 12 in the final standings are still to be decided.  The Nittany Lions are currently tied with Illinois for 10th spot.  However, the Lions are just one game out of seventh, which is occupied by Minnesota and Indiana.  The Nittany Lions could finish anywhere from eighth to 11th depending on the results this weekend.  With a win at Minnesota, the Lions could finish no better than eighth and no worse than 10th.  With a Minnesota win, the Lions could finish no better than 10th and no worse than 11th.  We'll detail the possible scenarios on Sunday prior to the game.


Scouting Minnesota
Minnesota heads into the regular season finale battling for a spot in the NCAA Tournament field.  Having lost three of their last four, the Gophers have little margin for error in the NCAA picture.  Minnesota had the week off leading up to Sunday's clash with the Nittany Lions.  The Gophers battled, but fell short in Ann Arbor against Michigan last Saturday.  They have lost three of their last four.

Junior guard Andre Hollins leads Minnesota's offensive attack.  He is averaging 14.6 points per contest.  Junior Dandre Mathieu is second on the team in scoring at 11.8 points per game, and he leads the team in assists at 4.3 per game.  Austin Hollins is the third Minnesota player averaging double-figures.  Austin Hollins averages 11.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.  Six-foot-11 center Elliott Eliason is the team's leading rebounder at 7.1 per contest.

The Golden Gophers play an aggressive style of defense under first-year head coach Richard Pitino.  Pressing on seemingly every defensive possession, Minnesota leads the conference in steals at 7.5 per game.  Individually, Austin Hollins and Mathieu rank fifth and seventh, respectively, in steals.

The Golden Gophers edged the Nittany Lions, 68-65, in the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 8.  Penn State led the vast majority of the second half before a late surge from the Gophers.



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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Welcome to live in-game coverage on GoPSUsports.com for the No. 8/12 Penn State women's basketball contest against Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, March 7 inside Banker Life Fieldhouse at Noon.

2014 Big Ten Tournament Headquarters

Be sure to interact with today's blog coverage with questions or comments at the bottom of our widget. Post your photos to Instagram or Twitter and use #PennState or #LadyLions and your photos may be chosen for use on our in-game coverage.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Follow along with some images from the quarterfinal matchup between Penn State women's basketball and Ohio State at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Throughout the 2013-14 Big Ten Tournament you can follow along with all of the happenings and latest news with the Lady Lions on their quest for the programs third Big Ten Tournament title.

The GoPSUsports.com blog team will keep you up-to-date with continued coverage of the team from their quarterfinal matchup with Ohio State through the end of their stay in the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

More content will be added as the Lady Lions continue their quest for the programs first Big Ten Tournament title since 1996.

Monday, March 3               Feature Story  |  All-Big Ten Release
Tuesday. March 4              Feature Story
Wednesday, March 5         Tournament Notes  |  Bracket Breakdown
Thursday, March 6             Feature Story
Friday, March 7                  What to Watch  |  Photo Blog  |  In-Game Blog

--LADY LIONS--