Men's Hoops set to play Big 5 rival

The anticipated romp through the regular season has not yet gone according to plan.

In a season in which an NCAA Tournament berth seemed to be a foregone conclusion, the Penn men's basketball team finds itself with a losing record at this early stage of the season.

Tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at the Palestra, the Quakers (1-2) will have a chance to even their mark when they host Temple (0-4) as part of the day-long Big 5 Classic.

A very young and very much rebuilding Temple team has struggled at the start as well. The Owls lost their season-opener on Nov. 24 at home to Rutgers and have since lost three consecutive road games. Penn coach Fran Dunphy does not think that this early poor run is indicative of Temple's ability, nor is catching the young squad early in the season particularly beneficial.

"I think they're a terrific basketball team," he said. "I don't think Saturday's any better time to catch them. They're a really fine basketball team that's lost to fine opponents."

In a swing through the Carolinas, Temple coach John Chaney's club dropped an 83-76 decision to Wake Forest before getting pummeled at South Carolina and Charlotte by a combined 30 points.

The Owls feature only one senior and two juniors on their 13-man roster.

One of those juniors, though, has been by far his team's premier offensive player.

David Hawkins, a 6'4" guard from Washington, D.C., has averaged 17.2 points-per-game. Despite Hawkins' offensive output, Temple has been limited to 53 points or fewer in two of its four contests this year.

"We'll cover him by committee," Dunphy said. "We'll probably start with [Jeff] Schiff[ner], but I don't think you can guard him with just one guy."

He is also a very dangerous three-point shooter, but Temple might be overly enamored with the three-ball.

Temple launched an astounding 40 attempts from behind the arc at Charlotte, connecting on 19 of them. Both figures set program records.

Freshman Maurice Collins, who starts alongside Hawkins in the backcourt, shot 5-for-10 from downtown, as each of the guards finished with 19 points.

The Quakers must focus their defensive efforts on the perimeter tomorrow night to deal with these talented guards. However, the Owls' undersized frontline has struggled offensively, as none of Temple's big men average more than 9.5 points per game, leaving the offensive burden on the backcourt.

After the Quakers' first loss against Drexel, Dunphy stressed a return to the fundamentals, including getting the ball inside for good looks at the basket.

And this philosophy could prove especially fruitful if properly executed against Temple.

Penn's top two scorers, Ugonna Onyekwe (17.3 ppg)and Koko Archibong (11.7 ppg), are both forwards (point guard Andy Toole is tied for second with Archibong), so the Red and Blue can try to exploit their advantage up front.

However, against Chaney's famous matchup zone, the Quakers know that getting easy looks will be at a premium.

"They're typically a very good zone defense team," Dunphy said. "We'll need to shoot it well from the wing and try to get some easy baskets inside."

Following a poor shooting performance against Penn State in the Quakers' season opener, Onyekwe has been particularly effective.

He shot 7-for-11 against Drexel in scoring 21 points and then hit 6-of-11 against the Blue Hens to add 16 points. However, he was forced to sit out most of the first half after picking up two quick fouls.

Still, Penn awaits the all-around masterful offensive performance, which it knows it is capable of delivering.

For all of the talent, which is considerable, on this Quakers squad, the team has yet to record more than 62 points in a game.

But fortunately for Penn, Temple's early-season woes suggest that a stellar, breakout performance may not be a prerequisite for victory.

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