GAME NOTES: The 2015 Big Ten Conference Tournament gets underway on Wednesday afternoon, with the first game pitting the 13th-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions against the 12th-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers.

All games are being at the United Center in Chicago, and the winner of this bout will advance to the quarterfinal round on Thursday to challenge the fifth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes.

Penn State began the season at 12-1, but Big Ten play offered much different results, as the team won just four of its 18 league bouts to finish next-to- last in the standings. The Nittany Lions stopped a six-game slide with a narrow win at Minnesota in Sunday's regular-season finale. PSU is 9-17 in the Big Ten Tournament, and it has made one title game appearance, losing to Ohio State in 2011, 71-60.

Prior to the season beginning, Nebraska was thought to be a team that could make a splash in the Big Ten, but a shocking home loss to Incarnate Word on Dec. 10 started the team on a roller coaster ride that would see it finish four games under .500 overall (13-17) and just ahead of Penn State in the conference with a mark of 5-13. Nebraska is mired in an eight-game losing streak at the moment, and the team is seeking only its second win in its brief Big Ten Tournament history.

These two teams met only once during the regular season, with Penn State earning a 56-43 home win on Feb. 7. The all-time series in knotted at 5-5.

Despite their struggles this season, Penn State can claim to having the Big Ten's top scorer in D.J. Newbill. A 45.5 percent shooter who converts 75.8 percent of his free throws, Newbill is the only double-digit scorer on a team that produces 67.1 ppg while allowing 66.5 ppg. Ross Travis (6.3 rpg) is the leading rebounder for the Lions, who narrowly win the battle on the boards (+0.8). Newbill is handing out 3.2 apg in an effort to get his teammates involved in the action, but it really is his show in terms of providing much of the squad's offensive punch. PSU ranks last in the league in assists (10.0 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.8).

Nebraska is scoring even less this season (61.3 ppg), but the team does boast a pair of double-digit scorers in Terran Petteway (17.8 ppg) and Shavon Shields (15.3 ppg). The duo also does what it can in other areas as well, combining for 10.9 rpg and 4.9 apg. The Cornhuskers are one of the worst shooting teams in the Big Ten, netting just 41.6 percent of their field goal attempts, and they actually rank last in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.283). They also 13th in rebounding margin (-2.7), blocked shots (2.9 bpg), assists (10.1 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.8).

Newbill is obviously the key to any success the Nittany Lions achieve, and that will certainly be the case in this contest. Expect him to get just enough support from his teammates as PSU slips past the struggling Huskers.