OPPONENT SPOTLIGHT: Brian Earl will be a key ingredient in the Tigers' offensive attack tonight.

Antawn Jamison. Mike Bibby. Raef LaFrentz. Trajan Langdon. Brian Earl. Brian Earl? The 6'2" Princeton Tigers' sharpshooter finds himself among some pretty elite company as an eligible candidate for the John R. Wooden College Basketball Player of the Year Award. Brian Earl has been selected by the media as one of 30 mid-season candidates for the Wooden Award, based on his individual and team performance. On April 3, the Wooden Award Recipient and All-American Team will be selected from the ranks of this elite group. Princeton's junior shooting guard is no stranger to accolades. Earl has been named tournament MVP in each of his last three in-season tournaments. Earl scored 15 points in each of the Tigers' tourney games, including a game- and tournament-winning backdoor layup against NC State, as Princeton took the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic to start the season. If Earl has made a habit of burning opponents in tournament play, he has become equally accustomed to putting on his game face against Penn. "We're looking forward to playing a tough game, a good game against a good [Penn] team," Earl said following Saturday night's Tigers' victory over Yale. Last season, Earl paced Princeton to two victories over the Quakers, leading the Tigers in scoring each time. At the Palestra last February, Earl grabbed three steals and put 17 points on the board, including a key three pointer as Princeton pulled away to start the second half. On March 4, the Tigers guard notched 19 against Penn on 4-of-5 three point shooting in an 86-73 Princeton win. While he has been consistent against Penn, Earl has a history of being a streak shooter. In late January, the junior bounced back from a Friday night goose-egg performance against Cornell (just his fourth career shutout) by nailing five-of-seven three-pointers en route to 21 points against Columbia the next evening. "When the shots are falling for you early, you get a good feeling about yourself and want to keep shooting," Earl told the Associated Press. This past weekend, Earl demonstrated the same form. On Friday night, he hit just a single field goal in a drubbing of Brown. Saturday, Earl exploded for five three-pointers in a 21-point performance against Yale. While Earl may be looking forward to playing a tough game, Penn fans hope he doesn't have the same shooting touch he possessed the last time these two teams met at Jadwin Gym. Last season, Earl came just two shots away from becoming a 50-40 man (50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point land). This season, he is hitting 43.1 percent of his threes and 47.9 percent overall. Earl is already second all-time in Princeton history with 187 trifectas. Though Earl was only a sophomore on the 1996-97 Princeton squad that went 24-4 and placed four players as all-Ivy honorable mention or better, he led the Tigers with12.1 points-per-game. Currently, Earl is scoring at a 13.5 ppg clip, good for second best on this year's edition of the Tigers. If Earl carries his hot hand from Saturday's Yale game into tonight's Ancient Eight matchup, it could turn into a three-point fest. Earl teamed with Gabe Lewullis last season to set a school record for most three pointers in a season by two teammates (133). "Brian's an outstanding shooter," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "But [Mitch] Henderson can make the three, Lewullis can make them, [James] Mastaglio can make them, all five guys can make threes so I'm sure if we give them opportunities they're going to take advantage of that." The Quakers have also had the hot hand from downtown as of late. Penn sophomore Matt Langel is one of the top-ranked three-point shooters in the country, while co-captain Garret Kreitz buried seven treys in the Brown game. "I don't know if it is going to be a three-point shootout, but both of us are good three-point shooting teams," Kreitz said. "We'll probably get our fair share of attempts on three pointers but it's just going to be an all-out war." Though few can predict the outcome, the general consensus seems to be that the game will be a hard-fought battle. "It's always a special game," Tigers coach Bill Carmody said. Perhaps the Penn State web page (yes, Penn State) can help out in this situation. Brian Earl's older brother, Dan, is a point-guard for the Nittany Lions. In high school, Brian made the New Jersey all-state team in 1995, while Dan was named player-of-the-year in 1993. Second-team all-Big 10 as a junior in 1996, Danny Earl redshirted last season with a bad back and is currently requesting a sixth year of eligibility after hurting his knee in December. Danny Earl's bio lists his "Favorite Current Athlete" as none other than? Michael Jordan. Though brother Brian may be suiting up for the Orange and Black, we know Danny's heart lies with the Red and Blue. Penn faithfuls can only pray that Jordan, who scored 22 in his first meeting with Princeton as a frosh, and the Quakers are able to unseat Princeton from its eighth-ranked pedestal.

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