M. Hoops visits Towson St.

As the Penn men's basketball team prepares to face Towson State tonight in Towson, Md., the question on most people's minds is, 'What's wrong with the Quakers?' "I honestly couldn't tell you what our problem is," co-captain Tim Krug said. "It seems we play a real good game, and when it comes down to it, we just fall a little short." Inexperience abounds on the Penn roster, and the Quakers are still learning how to work together. Despite the end results of the games, the team has taken major steps forward. Turnovers, usually a problem for a young team that hasn't played together very much, have been kept to a minimum. Penn's 10.5 per game is about half its opponents' average. Penn is also an unselfish squad, allowing the ball to swing from side to side and letting different people get good looks at the basket. Against St. Louis, however, the Quakers could not convert their opportunities into points. Tonight, Penn should be able to exploit Towson State's inexperience against outside shooters. According to Towson coach Terry Truax, since Towson does not shoot the trifecta, they are not well prepared to defend against it. The Quakers put up 29 three-pointers against USC alone. The Tigers have shot only 26 in their previous three games. Another key to the game will be rebounding. Both Penn and Towson have been outboarded by their opponents. Krug and freshman forward Paul Romanczuk will likely be battling 6-7 forward Stevie Thomas, who leads the Tigers with 7.7 boards per game. "We have to be hungrier than Towson State," co-captain Ira Bowman said. "It's just a matter of us performing, making the shots we need to make and keeping them off the boards." The Quakers think the key to the game will be consistency. So far this season, Penn has managed to get one element of its game working, only to make mistakes on the other end of the court. "We haven't put it all together yet," Bowman said. "In the first game, we played pretty good offense and terrible defense. In the second game, we played pretty good defense and missed all our open shots on offense." Penn's shooting has been atrocious -- 38.1 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from three-point range. "We've put the ball in people's hands in a position where they can score," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "It just may be a little more patience, a little more confidence that we need to build, and hopefully we'll get to that point where we're making those shots that we're taking." The Quakers cannot put their finger on the ultimate cause of the two losses. It appears to be a combination of little things, most of which stem from mental mistakes. Lapses in concentration may prove fatal against the experience of the Tigers. Towson starts four seniors, including the tough backcourt tandem of Scooter Alexander and Ralph Blalock. The 6-foot-3 pair are tied for the team lead in scoring. However, neither are as tall, or as physical, as the 6-5 Bowman. "We're up to the challenge," Bowman said. "Everybody is starting to accept their roles and understand what we need them to do in order to be successful. It's just a matter of time before individuals step up." Bowman believes it will benefit Penn to play so many tough non-conference games early in the year. "I'd rather have the losses now," Bowman said. "You need to know where you stand, therefore you will keep on trying to improve. We don't have a false perception of how good we are." The losses have been a rude awakening for the Quakers, a squad used to senior-dominated success. But those seniors are gone, and it is time for the new class to step up and take over. "Everybody's got to do their job," Dunphy said. "We still have to learn how to win as a team."