BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: M. Hoops prepares for next top ten team

The Penn men's basketball team is preparing for No. 7 Temple, who will come to the Palestra next Monday. Putting Tuesday's down-to-the-wire loss to Kansas behind, the Penn men's basketball team gets back to business today. Penn coach Fran Dunphy gave the Quakers a day off to recover yesterday, but they return to practicing at the Palestra this afternoon. · One game against a top ten team down, one to go. The No. 8 Jayhawks will not even be the highest-ranked team that will take the Palestra court against Penn this month. On Monday night, John Chaney and his Temple Owls -- currently ranked No. 7 nationally -- will pay a visit to their Big Five rivals. Many in national media are calling this group of Owls the most talented in Chaney's 17 years in North Philly. Dunphy, however, knows what Temple will bring to the table next week. "Temple is one of the easier teams to prepare for and one of the harder teams to beat," Dunphy said. "They won't do anything tricky." Temple's physical big men will present a problem for Penn in the frontcourt. Led by 6'10" junior Lamont Barnes, the Owls will pose a threat to Geoff Owens and Paul Romanczuk. The pair finished with just two and four points, respectively, against an athletic Kansas frontcourt. "I have to give [Kansas] credit," Owens said. "They played good defense, but those are shots I usually make." · One concern for the Quakers on Tuesday night was their inability to draw fouls against Kansas. Penn only took four foul shots on the night, two of which were awarded on a technical foul to Kansas coach Roy Williams. Dunphy, however, doesn't believe this will prove as a season-long problem. He regards Kansas' athleticism as the reason for Penn's lack of trips to the charity stripe. The Quakers had a similar problem with the Jayhawks last season, taking just eight free throws in their 89-71 loss. That was the second lowest number of foul shots in a game for Penn all season. The bad news for Penn, however, is that this same problem may reemerge against Temple, who is equally athletic. Last season, the Quakers took a season-low five foul shots against the Owls. · The foul line was not the only place where Penn was not getting quality looks against Kansas. The Quakers were 7-for-22 from three-point land. Take away leading scorer Frank Brown, who was 3-for-4 from downtown, and Penn shot only .222 from beyond the arc. This includes a 2-for-8 night from Matt Langel, who finished last season as the sixth best three-point shooter in the nation at .500. "I think that's a function of Kansas' athleticism and their ability to get their hands up," Dunphy said. · Besides hitting his treys, Brown was on fire from everywhere against Kansas, shooting 7-for-9 for 17 points. Many fans might have been surprised at this outburst, considering Brown missed 41 of Penn's last 55 games with injuries. If Brown can remain healthy and continue to play like he did Tuesday, fans will see much more of him. Against Kansas, Brown was the third man off the Penn bench, following Josh Sanger and Mike Sullivan. This may change soon, as Brown not only saw the most minutes off-the-bench on Tuesday but was also on the floor for more than starters Jed Ryan and Romanczuk. · Penn point guard Michael Jordan played 39 minutes against the Jayhawks and seemed to show some fatigue in the closing seconds. This is due mainly to Penn's current lack of depth at guard. Sophomore Lamar Plummer is still recovering from eye surgery and is expected back by late December. Plummer's return will take pressure off Jordan and Langel, who played 31 minutes. · Penn will not have recent history on its side when it faces Temple. The Owls come into the game with a 16-game winning streak and a 32-15 series lead. The last Penn victory over Temple was on February 9, 1982.

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