M. HOOPS NOTEBOOK: Inside game needs help

In the aftermath of the Penn men's basketball team's heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Temple, the Quakers again could only wonder what might have been against a top-25 opponent. Penn has now gone 12 long years between victories over a nationally ranked team. That game, a 84-80 Big 5 win over Villanova, which was ranked ninth in the Associated Press poll at the time (and featured such players as Ed Pinckney and Harold Pressley), was the last time the Quakers were able to pull off a big upset. Earlier that same season was the last time Penn beat Temple, a 59-56 thriller at the Palestra. In between, the Quakers have had many close calls against quality teams, including near victories over New Mexico last year at the Lobo Invitational (the Lobos later were ranked as high as No. 18 in the AP), and over Massachusetts in the tournament. In each game, Penn was close throughout, put could not pull it all together in the end to come out with a victory. If the Quakers hope to do some damage in the NCAA tournament this year, they will probably have to break this streak to do it. · The up and down season of Quaker forward Shawn Trice continues. Trice, unquestionably the most talented member of the Penn frontcourt, seemed to put it all together in the Christmas US West Cellular Air Time Tournament in Seattle. Trice, in the two games, averaged 22.5 points and seven rebounds per contest, easily making the all-tournament team. In addition, Trice shot tremendously from the field, hitting on 85 percent of his shots. However, Trice seems to have left his game back in Seattle. In the three games since returning to the City of Brotherly Love, Trice has scored a combined eight points, averaging just three shots per contest. He has not made the most of those few opportunities, making just 22 percent. Against Temple, Penn needed another big performance from Shawn Trice. Tuesday night, however, he came up empty. Penn showed no semblance of an inside game, a key to beating the Owl's tough matchup defense. If the Quakers are going to do anything this year, Trice has to come up big. · Another strange stat from Tuesday night: Eric Moore -- 0 for 1 from the field, zero points. Moore, who might be the most improved Quaker on the team, had been averaging more than 10 points per game and had been a noticeable force inside the paint. But like most of the Penn big men with the exception of Tim Krug, he was noticeably quiet and ignored by the Penn offense which launched 34 three-pointers, 60 percent of their total shots. Krug did have a relatively strong game hitting 4 of 7 shots for eight points and five rebounds. The rest of the Penn big men totaled just three points -- all by Trice. · Tuesday night's game between the Owls and the Quakers happened to match the seventh and eighth all-time winningest teams in Division I basketball. The Quakers, who now total 1,371 wins, trail the Owls by 30 games. The top six teams, in order, are North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, St. John's, Duke and Oregon State.