LEOPARDS AT A GLANCE: M. Hoops hopes to repeat history

His voice didn't flicker, he never said a conciliatory word. But Lafayette coach John Leone knows tonight's matchup with the Penn men's basketball team at the Palestra will clearly be an uphill battle. The Leopards are an uninspiring 0-21 lifetime in Philadelphia against the Quakers, and 2-25 regardless of the venue. And when tipoff occurs tonight at 8 p.m. (WOGL 1210-AM), Leone will be without captain Keith Brazzo -- "a good kid and a good player," Penn coach Fran Dunphy called him. The 6-2, 180-pound senior guard suffered a sprained left ankle against Yale January 6. He leads Lafayette in scoring, rebounding and steals, averaging 17.4 points, 6.8 boards and 1.9 thefts per game. Needless to say, the injury puts the Leopards (4-8) at a decided disadvantage. "If Jerome Allen or Matt Maloney go out for Penn, there's a big hole to fill," Leone said. "So we're in that situation a little bit now. We've got hit by the injury bug.?Hopefully some of the other reserves will pick up the slack." Against the Quakers (9-2), Brazzo will be replaced in the starting lineup, which already consists of three sophomores, by 6-4, 200-pound freshman L.J. Bennett. He scored 10 points and committed no turnovers in 32 minutes of playing time during an 89-65 loss to Bucknell Saturday in Easton. "They're going to put five guys out there, and we're going to put five guys out there," Leone said. "We'll see what happens. I'm not worried about being pounded into the floor. If it happens, it happens." A year ago that's exactly what did happen. The Quakers pounded a punchless Lafayette squad, 89-65. The game really wasn't that close. Penn exploded early, doubling up the Leopards 50-25 at the half. Uncontested layups, easy inside passes to then-sophomore forwards Shawn Trice and Eric Moore and then-junior Andy Baratta, and lethal close-range shots of then-junior forward Barry Pierce were all available a year ago. Penn was able to secure significant playing time for players who had rarely seen it. In all, 13 Quakers logged minutes. "At the time that we played all of our opponents, Penn was probably for that given game the toughest team we played -- including Wake Forest and Kansas State," Leone said. "If the guards are on, if they're shooting the ball well, they're a tough team to beat. You can check with USC and Ohio State on that." The Quakers are coming off a heartbreaking 76-65 loss to No. 13 Temple, but figure to get healthy quickly against the Leopards. Lafayette has already played four Ivy League schools, defeating Columbia and Yale at Allan P. Kirby Field House, while falling to Princeton and Brown on the road. Tonight, the Leopards face a team with everyone returning from a squad that beat all those opponents twice during the 1992-93 campaign. Leone said his team won't be intimidated, but does concede there are less-hostile gyms. "It's not a very warm and cozy environment for us," he said. "Lafayette has traditionally not done well there. It's certainly not the cozy confines of our own home court." Lafayette enters the game with little to lose though, while Dunphy and his Quakers have the burden of impressing the home crowd and the pollsters and committee members, who will decide Penn's seeding in the NCAA tournament should the Quakers repeat as Ivy champions. "I'm sure Fran Dunphy is worried about losing," Leone said. "Coaches worry about losing, they worry about winning. It's a good game for us to play. It's down in Philadelphia. They're Penn. We're Lafayette. We haven't had a lot of success against them. Penn's going to give it their best shot, and we're going to give it our best shot. "I think we've been playing better than we have in recent years. We've struggled the last three years, but our team is showing more balance. Some of our younger kids are getting older." Lafayette has suffered through three consecutive 20-loss seasons, which makes the Quakers clearly the favorites in the game. "That's the case anytime the expectations are as high as they are here at the University of Pennsylvania," Dunphy said. "I think everybody expects us to win a lot of games, and this is another one. We'll be the favorite, so I guess that comes with a certain amount of pressure. "But you deal with it and hopefully the kids are going to respond."