With Wisconsin's loss at Michigan State, Sunday's game loses a bit of its luster. The Buckeyes are now in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. However, if the team overlooks Penn State, they could suffer the Badgers' fate and drop a game they should win.

For the most part, my earlier preview of Penn State remains accurate. So I won't rehash all of the major points of the game. Instead, here's some questions I will look to have answered in this game:

1. Who starts: Ron Lewis or Daequan Cook? Cook started against Minnesota, and the results were good. Of course, that's just one game, and who's to say inserting Cook into the starting lineup was the difference maker? Will Cook get another chance to start, seeing as both he and Lewis appeared more effective last game? Or was the change just a wake-up call for Lewis? I'm guessing Cook will get another start. Lewis played well off the bench, and Thad Matta doesn't seem to view starting as any special reward. If putting Cook on the court first seems to produce the best results for the team, I expect it to continue.

2. Can the Buckeyes shut down a three-point shooter? Selected three-point shooting lines from OSU's last five games:

Minnesota (made 50% of their threes): McKenzie 3-7, Abu-Shamala 4-6, Westbrook 2-4
Penn State (40%): Claxton 3-6, Walker 2-5, Jackson 3-4
Purdue (40%): Teague 5-9
Michigan (33%): Harris 2-3
Michigan State (40%): Neitzel 6-12

See what I'm getting at? Only Michigan didn't have somebody (or several somebodies) torch us on threes. With Greg Oden and Othello Hunter in the middle, teams don't have much success inside, so you'd expect them to shoot a lot of threes. You'd also expect the Buckeyes to know this and defend the outside well. That doesn't seem to be happening. Sure, you can claim that teams are just hitting lucky shots, and that might be true. But as my pappy always said back on the farm, "Son, when four of your last five opponents have hit 40% or more of their threes, you should probably have a look at your perimeter defense."

3. How will the Buckeyes perform against the zone? As Keith of Buckeye Commentary noted, Ohio State has some troubles against zone defense. That's a little odd, because the Buckeyes seem made to beat zone defense: a big man defenses must collapse on, a point guard that's great at penetrating a defense, and several shooters. But when those shooters don't shoot all that well, the whole thing falls apart. With Daequan "Hitting 46.5% of My Threes" Cook (not a catchy nickname, I know) in the starting lineup, the outside shooting may get a bit of a boost. If the Buckeyes shoot as well as their opponents have been (40% would be nice), the game could be over early. Unless the Buckeyes take the second half off again. Which brings us to the last question.

4. Can the Buckeyes pay attention for a full 40 minutes? It's been done to death: OSU keeps letting teams back into games, blah blah blah. But it's still a problem. The Buckeyes played a pretty solid 40 minutes against Minnesota; hopefully that continues tonight.