Look out Abnerf's, it's Lehigh

Men's basketball hosts its third straight home game, the final one of the semester. Anyone in the mood for cheesesteaks? If history can repeat itself, tonight might be the night for Penn hoops fans to get Philly's most famous sandwich free of charge. The Penn men's basketball team welcomes Lehigh to the Palestra tonight at 7 p.m. The last time the Engineers came to town -- on December 7, 1996 -- the Quakers downed them 100-58, treating every ticket-stub holding fan to a cheesesteak at Abner's. But that does not mean those going to the Palestra tonight should start licking their chops. "Realistically, I don't think we'll be able to put up 100 points. [Lehigh] was a young team team [in 1996], and they're a lot older now," Penn junior guard Michael Jordan said. "Last time we got that, that was amazing." When the Engineers faced Penn in 1996, they were 0-5 and on their way to a 1-26 season. Lehigh's current team, however, is 3-2 and should pose more of a threat to the Quakers (1-1). After facing two top 10 teams in Kansas and Temple already this season, the Quakers know that tonight's matchup could still prove to be a challenge. "There's always a possibility to have a letdown, but I think that's what we concentrated on the last five days in practice -- not letting that letdown occur," Penn forward Jed Ryan said. "You don't have to get up for Kansas or for Temple, but we have to get ourselves ready [for Lehigh] and not rely on the crowd noise and the atmosphere around the game." Much of the focus on defense for the Quakers tonight will be on Lehigh guard Brett Eppehimer. The 5'11" senior is averaging 25.2 points per game this season and was the fourth leading scorer in the nation last year with a 24.7 average. Although Eppehimer dropped at least 30 points in Lehigh's other games against Ivy League teams this season -- Yale and Harvard -- he may not have the same success against a third Ivy opponent. "I think we'll match Michael [Jordan] to Eppehimer right away, which will be a good matchup for us. He's not going to let Eppehimer go for 35," Ryan said. "He's one of the better defenders I've played with in my career, so hopefully he'll be fine there. The rest of us just have to make sure that no one else [has a career night] on us. We don't want to key so much on one guy and then have the other guys kill us." For the other Lehigh players to have career days, however, they will need to see the ball more often. Through five games, Eppehimer has taken 94 shots. The next highest total on the team belongs to guard Jared Hess, who has 43 field goal attempts. Eppehimer has had to carry the team more in recent games since 6'6" forward Fido Willyboro is out with torn cartilage in his knee. "[Willyboro] means a lot to us in our pressure defense; he's good on the board; he guards very well," Lehigh coach Sal Mentesana said. "The guys who have filled in have filled in admirably. I'm very pleased with they way they're playing, but they're certainly going to have to turn it up a notch against a team like Pennsylvania." Other players who have the ability to hurt the Quakers include Hess and forward Pete Delea. Hess is shooting .471 from three-point range and has hit 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Delea is shooting .710 from the field through five games. Despite this, Lehigh should have a difficult time against the Quakers. Although Penn only escaped with a two-point victory last season in Bethlehem, Pa., the Quakers were without the service of Jordan who missed the game with an ankle injury. Jordan will be in top form tonight, as will center Geoff Owens who missed all of last season with a medical condition -- making life more difficult for the Engineers. The Quakers will be the favorites tonight, but the fans at the Palestra should not expect Penn to deliver cheesesteaks along with a win. "The cheesesteak thing is a great novelty," Ryan said. "Our focus is on playing well, do what we need to do to win the game, and hopefully everybody can go to Abner's and buy cheesesteaks."

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