Penn travels to ASU, Princeton

Winter break is almost upon us, but it won't be much of a break for the Penn men's basketball team. The Quakers' upcoming schedule features a year-end trip to Tempe, Ariz., and the new year brings the opening of Ivy League play. Four games into the young season, Penn remains an enigma. The team has been competitive and often shown promise, yet the final results have been only one win to accompany three losses. Still, coach Fran Dunphy was generally happy with the Quakers' play in their three games before Saturday's 88-61 loss to Penn State in Atlantic City. "Obviously we had a tremendous win at Towson State, so I was very pleased with that win and how we won it," Dunphy said. "And we were in position to win both Southern Cal and St. Louis. 121 "Saturday, obviously we could have played better. I was hoping we would. [Penn State guard] Pete Lisicky absolutely shot the hell out of the ball. It was a tremendous performance. So overall, I would say I'm satisfied, but we've got to make strides to get better and hopefully we'll do that." No doubt one of the areas in which Penn must make strides is its shooting. The Quakers have misfired from just about everywhere -- they are shooting just 38.5 percent from the floor, 29.6 percent from behind the three-point arc and only 57.6 percent at the free throw line. "Overall as a unit we have to take better shots and take more easy shots, which may mean getting out in transition a little more," senior guard Ira Bowman said. "I think if you continue to take good shots, shots are going to fall. People can't continue to miss that many shots. It's just a matter of sticking to it and staying confident." Penn's next opportunity to test its marksmanship will come on December 29 at Arizona State in the four-team ASU/Tribune Classic. Much of the attention will be on the host Sun Devils, but the Quakers' first game against Detroit Mercy is a dangerous one. The Titans (4-1) knocked off Michigan State on Sunday, 63-61, and Dunphy cautions against expecting too much from his own team. "We're not an automatic win against anybody, I would say," Dunphy said. "We need to work. We need to play our best game every time out. We don't have a great margin for error." Should Penn prevail, it would play the winner of ASU-Southern Methodist in the tournament championship game. A defeat would pair the Quakers with the other loser in the consolation game. "It's going to be tough," Bowman said. "Nothing's going to be given. That's the type of competition you want to play against in the early part of the season before you get into conference play. Playing tough competition can only help us in the end." Penn will find out how much it benefited from its early out-of-conference schedule when the Ivy League season begins in January. The Quakers play host to Brown and Yale on January 12 and 13, respectively, but the big test comes one week earlier on January 6, when the team travels Princeton. Even Dunphy, who generally insists on focusing on games one at a time, admitted how important the first meeting with the Tigers will be. "It's a league game, it's our first league game, it's our biggest rival," Dunphy said. "It's the team that's playing the best in the league so far this year." Indeed, Princeton (4-1) suffered only its first loss of the season, 65-56, Tuesday night against Monmouth. The Tigers have already notched wins against Boise State and Jerry Tarkanian's Fresno State squad. Freshman point guard Brian Earl is averaging a team-high 14.5 points per game and has already been named Ivy Rookie of the Week. "I think it's a good basketball team," Dunphy said. "They've got a lot of guys back from last year's team, and they added a point guard who's very good, as well." It will be a tough assignment for an inexperienced Penn team. But the Quakers hope their early struggles translate into mid- and late-season success. "From every loss you have to take a lesson," Bowman said. "Slowly but surely, we're learning, and I think the players are really starting to get the point."