Penn's last shot at Philly success

Last year, the Penn men's basketball team spoiled the homecoming of former coach Fran Dunphy by defeating his new team, Temple, 76-74, at the Palestra.

But this season, it's the Owls who look to spoil any chance of the Red and Blue posting a "1" in their Big 5-standings win column. If the Owls win as expected, the Quakers will post their first winless Big 5 season in seven years.

Penn (5-11, 0-3 Big 5) comes into its game at Temple tonight directly following its most lopsided loss of the season, an 82-42 loss to Saint Joseph's. On the other hand, Temple (8-8, 0-1 Big Five) comes in playing perhaps its best basketball of the season. The team has won two straight Atlantic 10 contests, including a 19-point victory over then-No. 20 Xavier.

For the Owls, it will be about avoiding a letdown after gaining some success in their suddenly-tough conference. For the Quakers it is more about recovering mentally from the bad loss to St. Joseph's.

"I think everyone is pretty pissed off," Kevin Egee said when asked about the team's psyche. "I think if you can't get psyched up for this game then you shouldn't be playing, so I think everyone is going to be ready."

The junior guard, who made three shots from downtown, was one of the few Quakers to experience some offensive success against the Hawks. The rest of the team was a combined 2-22 from beyond the arc.

To compete with Temple, the Quakers will have to get into the lane more effectively and create some more high-percentage scoring opportunities.

"I think we need to move the ball and try to open up some space and some gaps where we can drive," Egee added. "We have to get the ball to our bigs more on the post-up and the block."

On the other end of the floor, the Quakers will have to deal with the potent scoring combination of Dionte Christmas and Mark Tyndale, who are averaging 20.6 and 15.3 points per game, respectively.

Christmas is an explosive scorer who is more of a threat from the outside, while Tyndale excels at mid-range spots. Both players have solid all-around games, though -- they are also the top two on the team in assists, rebounds and steals.

"I'm going to have to do my part and make sure I'm in position, but really it's a team-wide effort anytime you play guys as talented as them," said Tyler Bernardini, who is expected to be one of the Quakers responsible for slowing down the duo.

While Christmas and Tyndale have led the way all season, Temple is proving to be more than a two-man team. Seven-foot Spaniard Sergio Olmos has made strides of late, especially defensively. He pulled down a season-high ten rebounds against Xavier and added four blocks.

Point guard Luis Guzman also had his strongest performance of the season against the Musketeers, scoring a career-high 13 points on 5-7 shooting.

With the way Penn has played as of late and with Temple's role players coming on strong, a Penn victory tonight seems like an impossible task. Beyond winning and losing, though, the game is a chance for the Quakers to get some positive momentum before the Ivy League schedule begins.

"Going into league play you want to be playing good basketball and you want to be a confident team," Penn coach Glen Miller said.

After Saturday's loss, even hanging in with the Owls will do wonders for Penn's confidence.

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